A New World, or A Strange Case of Love in the City
by Sandman Cometh
Summary: Sequel to Two Tribes. The group must deal with the politics of Ba Sing Se while Zuko deals with his feelings towards Jin. But an attack by Azula at a holy ceremony somehow propels everyone to a new and terrifying place, New York City!
1. The Trials of Ba Sing Se

**Brave New World, or A Strange Case of Love In the City**

Chap. 1

The Trials of Ba Sing Se

The inn stood in the middle of the street, neither advertising itself nor standing out. Like so many buildings in Ba Sing Se, it basically blended in with the rest of the scenery. Granted, there was less reason to really look at it now, since it's landlord had been imprisoned for allowing Firebenders into the city. However, the inn's last tenants had been given the building to live in as a sign of good faith from the Dai Li, the ruling government of the city. The irony though, was that this building that seemed so unimportant and ordinary, now housed some of the most important and powerful people in the world.

In fact, if one of the many passers-bys were to look in through the windows, they would see the awe-inspiring figures of a young child, two teenaged Water-Tribe siblings, a young Earthbending girl, an old man, and a group of cloaked figures sitting in chairs discussing something. Well, at least that's what they would see at first. But upon closer examination, and a little knowledge of current events, those people would be recognized as Avatar Aang, his Water-bending teacher Katara and his friend Sokka, his earthbending teacher Toph Bei Fong, his future Firebending teacher the former General Iroh, and the legendary Elemental Knights, voices of the gods on earth sent to guard the young Avatar. And yet if one was to actually listen to their discussion, that person might turn and run in fear. For in Ba Sing Se, the greatest crime one could commit was to openly discuss the war that was occurring on the outside, and that was just what the group inside the inn was discussing…

"They wouldn't even listen to you?" Sokka asked again, his amazement and frustration quite apparent in his voice.

"They moved me up from six weeks to four." Tierra, the dog-Knight of Earth answered in disgust. "Apparently, the Dai Li's hold is strong enough to circumvent even the fear of the gods."

"Or Long Feng is smart enough to know we cannot fight an entire city without losing the support of the rest of the Earth Kingdom." Iroh added.

Tierra nodded, as Hierro, the spider-Knight of metal, spoke. "Iroh's right. We can't go after the Dai Li without word spreading throughout the Earth Kingdom that we've attacked Ba Sing Se and the Earth King. But there has got to be someone or something we can use to get through all this bureaucracy."

"But we don't have time for that." Katara argued. "This city is huge, and the Dai Li are everywhere. The eclipse will come and go before we can find anything here to help us."

Hierro nodded his head resignedly; just like everyone else, the spider knew just much of a strange hold Long Feng and the Dai Li had on the city. After the group had escaped Azula and regained Appa, they had attempted to make good on their second objective in Ba Sing Se; contacting the Earth King and telling him about the upcoming eclipse and it's weakening effect on the Fire Nation. The group had attempted to begin this process after Jouku, the previous owner of the inn had been arrested by the Dai Li. But the group had merely told the group to find a woman named Jo Dee who could set up an appointment. However, Jo Dee had merely creeped the group out with her unending smiling, and then promised them an audience in a month's time. No amount of explanation or begging could change her mind, but that didn't stop them. Toph and Katara had crashed a feast held in honor of the King's bear and tried to get an audience then, with Aang and Sokka posing as busboys and the Knights hiding under the power of Oscuirdad, the bat-Knight of Shadow.

It had been there in fact, where they had been introduced to the sinister Long Feng, and told about the state of affairs in Ba Sing Se; how the King was merely a figurehead, how the Dai Li ran the city and refused to discuss the war on any level, for fear of ruining their 'utopia.' Despite eloquent words from Katara, Aang, and the Knights (well, threats from Tierra) Long Feng had refused to grant them any kind of audience and said that the group would now be monitored by the Dai Li and would be forcibly expunged from the city at any further action towards the war effort. Therefore, the group had been trying for the last two weeks to try to figure out something they could do to speak with the King.

"Are we still alone?" Fuego, the 'magma-man' who served as Knight of Fire asked suddenly.

At this, Oscuridad cocked his ears as Tierra sniffed the air. The two of them stretched their enhanced senses to the max, then the bat said, "Not anymore."

"Don't these guys ever take a bathroom break?" Toph muttered as the group got up; with the Dai Li surrounding them again, any further talk about their situation was extremely dangerous.

"I think the time we spent talking was it, Toph." Luz, the fox-Knight of Light, answered as she moved over to the fire-pit. Taking some water from the canteen, she poured into the pot over the pit, reached into the small pantry nearby, only to turn a moment later and yell, "Dammit Mushi, did you drink all the jasmine tea again?"

"I had a very stressful day." Iroh responded, being sure to respond to his alibi. Since both Iroh and Zuko were wanted criminals of both the Earth and Fire Nations, the group had made sure to call them by their assumed names when they were being watched.

"What stress? You just talk all day." Muttered Aire, the falcon-Knight of Wind.

"You don't think that knowing the right thing to say all the time is stressful?" Iroh replied.

"Whatever. I think I told Trueno to get some more when he stops by Lee's tea shop today." Agua, cat-Knight of Water said. Since Zuko, or Lee as his alibi stated, did not have the experience of Iroh in advising the group, and had to be very careful in his dealings with the Dai Li, he was not able to do much to help out. Therefore, Zuko had begun searching for a job, only to have Iroh help him acquire one in a tea shop (this had not been much surprise to the group). Despite struggling at first, Zuko had become much better, thanks in no small part to Iroh's vast knowledge of tea. The job had therefore become a good source of money for the group, and had kept Zuko busy, if not hugely happy.

"I still can't believe that Lee's been able to do so well at the shop." Katara said. "He's hated tea for as long as I've known him."

"You know your brother." Bosque, the squirrel-Knight of Forest replied. "He's quite adaptable when he wants to be."

Katara nodded at that, but she shook her head a moment later. It was still strange for the girl to think of Zuko as her brother, despite what Tierra had learned while they had been captured by Azula. While trapped inside the cramped cell, Tierra had detected scents from the three of them and Azula that, after consultation with the Architects, or gods, of Water and Fire, had revealed that Zuko's mother, Ursa, had been the same Water-Tribe girl that had given birth to Sokka and Katara, while Azula's true mother was another Water-Tribe girl. Ozai had apparently captured both girls during a raid on the Southern Water-Tribe and despite escape attempts on the part of Ursa, had managed to keep both of them in the Fire Nation until their respective deaths, while Katara and Sokka were raised by their unknown stepmother.

All three of them were still coming to terms with all this, though their relationships with each other seemed to be improving. Part of this was Katara's doing; she and Zuko had been patching things up before this revelation, and despite a small, accidental kissing incident that nether of them truly liked remembering, they were still on good terms. As for Sokka, after fighting with Zuko to escape the ship and Zuko's help during Aang's difficult time without Appa, had begun to respect his brother more and more and had been treating him as such.

_Who knows? Maybe they can actually go penguin-sledding back home._ Katara thought as she looked out the window. But seeing the streets around her and knowing the Dai Li were hidden somewhere pushed such light thoughts out of her mind. _I can't believe that Long Feng would be so afraid of the outside world. And we can't leave without speaking with the King, but will that even do anything? The King may be the same way. Things were supposed to get easier when we got here; why does it just harder everywhere we go?_


	2. Zuko's New Friend

Chap. 2

Zuko's New Friend

The streets of Ba Sing Se bustled with activity. People moved through it in amazing numbers, as they looked through shops, or met friends for lunch, or simply walked around looking for something to do. It was here that the whistling form of a man dressed in silver, with cape and cap walked.

Trueno, the ram-Knight of Thunder, moved through the streets with practiced grace, his happy-go-lucky nature at ease here. The ram had lived in many cities over his centuries of life; he knew how to move around quite well, and he was rather pleased to be in such a large group of people. Though he was normally a rather happy individual as a rule, Trueno was always happiest mixing with a large group, especially one made of strangers. It was likely this trait that had allowed him to survive within the tightly knit Knights for so long. It was also what allowed the ram to cheerfully say hello to all that passed him, and let him compliment merchants on the quality of their wares. Granted, most people were happy to speak with him; a chosen of the gods has a rather hard time keeping his identity secret, especially when he is an animal-human hybrid and dressed in silver clothes. Yet Trueno's personality allowed him to keep a good mood.

And at the moment, it had another good trait- keeping him in a good mood even though he was slightly lost. _Now let's see._ He thought as he looked over the streets. _Zuko said his job was by the silverware shop and the instrument place. Did I pass those already? God, I hope not. _But despite his situation, Trueno refused to allow himself to worry. The ram had decided many years ago that worrying about something never let anyone accomplish anything and just made everything seem worse then it was. Trueno applied this belief to everything in his life; even the situation with the Dai Li didn't weigh on him as heavily as it did the others. While Trueno certainly took it seriously and had put forth many ideas to solve the problem, he was also confident that they could put forth an effective solution in time. It was an attitude that the others had both appreciated and been annoyed by, which was quite common for the ram.

_Ah well, Desierto is never happy anyway. Besides, Oscuridad told him not to rip my guts out anymore. _The ram thought as he continued to walk the streets. As he thought a it more on the situation, the ram then noticed a stand in front of him, one who's products glinted in the sunlight. "Silverware. Oh good, I am on the right track." Trueno said, as he noticed another stand nearby that was filled with lutes. Looking past that, Trueno then saw a small, squat building from which the smell of ginseng emanated. "That's gotta be it." The ram said, as he made his way to the teashop.

Reaching the shop quickly, Trueno pushed open the door and walked inside. Nodding his hello to the people in the shop, he quickly began to look for Zuko. He saw the young Firebender a second later, clearing a nearby table.

"Hey Lee, how goes the day?" the ram asked, remembering to stick to the boy's alibi. Zuko started a little, but quickly regained his composure.

"Fine, actually." He said, as he finished clearing the table. "What brings you here?"

"Your uncle and my sister." Trueno answered. "We're out of jasmine again."

"What? I just gave Uncle some more two days ago!" Zuko cried out in astonishment.

"He goes through it fast. Plus we're here to help him now." Trueno said with a shrug.

Zuko sighed, but moved to the back of the store, where the counter was. Walking behind it, Zuko reached into one of the many shelves on the wall and withdrew a pouch of leaves. Grabbing a small leather bag from under the counter, Zuko filled it with jasmine leaves and handed it to Trueno.

"Four silver with employee discount right?" the ram asked, as he reached into his moneybag and withdrew the coins that Hierro had provided. Zuko nodded, took the money, and placed it under the countertop.

"Do me a favor." Zuko said, as he put the money away. "Tell Uncle that we're low on jasmine and we won't get more for another week."

"Right. Do you have more though?" Trueno asked.

Zuko nodded, but before he could elaborate, his eyes suddenly went wide and he started to move away from the counter. Confused, Trueno turned around; only to see a young girl about Zuko's age with brown eyes stand before him. She was dressed in a simple green robe, with her dark brown hair tied into pigtails. Still, Trueno noticed her face most of all. _Pretty_ _girl. _Trueno thought as he asked, "Can I help you?"

"Oh, um, maybe." The girl replied nervously. "This'll probably sound stupid, but um… are you one of the Elementals?"

"My, how'd you guess?" Trueno asked, as he ran his fingers over his curling horns. The girl giggled a bit at that, as Trueno smiled and said, "Yes I am. My name is Trueno. And you are?"

"My name's Jin."

"Then the pleasure is mine, milady." The ram said, as he gently took the girl's hand and kissed it. Again, Jin giggled and withdrew her hand. Trueno grinned, only to hear a loud cough from behind him.

"Oh I'm sorry Jin." Trueno said, as he turned around. "This is my friend Lee. We've known each for a long while."

"We've already met." Jin said quickly, as she looked over at Zuko and said, "Lee, you didn't tell me you were friends with an Elemental."

"I-I didn't get a chance to." Zuko stammered.

"Wait, do you two know each other?" Trueno asked.

"Yeah, I've been coming here for a while, and we've talked a bit." Jin said. "We even went out last week."

"Oh really?" Trueno said, looking over Zuko, who instantly looked away. But the ram already had his answer; he remembered Zuko saying that he'd had to work late last week, and how Iroh had left to help him. _I'll bet the old man set them up. _The ram thought as he looked over at the two of them.

"Lee, I spent most of last week thinking about what happened…" Jin began, but Zuko cut her off.

"Yeah, about that Jin, I'm sorry I ran off. It's just… well…. It was really complicated."

"It didn't seem that way to me." Jin said coldly.

Zuko began to stammer again, as he tried to explain. "I-It's just…. I-I had…. This girl in the circus….. and it was just too soon."

Jin didn't seem convinced though. Thankfully, Trueno came to the aid of his friend. "Lee, I told you it might be too soon after Lokia. But I guess you know now, don't you?"

"Lokia?" Jin asked in surprise.

"She was this acrobat in the circus." Trueno said, his quick thinking mind picking up on the bits and pieces he'd gotten from the conversation. "They had a deep relationship before he left to come here. When I ran into him a few days ago, he said that he was trying to move on, but it was very hard for him. But if he hurt you Jin, I'm sure he's sorry."

At that, Jin's face softened a bit and said, "Well, I guess if an Elemental will vouch for you…."

"I swear Jin, I didn't want to hurt you." Zuko pleaded. "I'm just… struggling with a lot of things right now and well….."

"It's ok. If I went too fast for you, then we can change things." Jin said. "Maybe we can try again?"

"Actually, I think I can help you with that." Trueno said. "Lee's been staying with me and my friends while we're in the city. One of them happens to be an excellent chef; it'd be crowded, but it's a step in the right direction."

"That sounds great." Jin said. "Besides, I'd like to hear a few stories about Lee the circus juggler."

"Oh I can tell you plenty." Trueno said with a laugh. "I taught this boy everything he knows."

"If that's the case, I think he needs a refresher course." Jin said with a laugh.

"Boy, have you forgotten everything I taught you?" Trueno said to Zuko. But the boy was merely looking at the ceiling, as if he was angrily venting at some higher power for the current state of affairs.

"Well, I'll have to show you again." The ram said, as he picked up three empty teacups from a nearby table. Holding them in his hands, Trueno threw them in the air and began to effortlessly juggle. Jin smiled as she watched and applauded the ram.

"Watch this." Trueno said, as he threw the cups up high, then pulled one arm back and began to juggle the cups one-handed. Jin applauded even more, as did the other patrons of the ship. Seeing an audience, Trueno decided it was time for the finale. Throwing the cups up high once again, Trueno suddenly flipped backwards and landed on the counter, balancing on one hand. Holding out his other hand, the ram continued to juggle the cups.

This last trick brought tremendous applause from everyone in the shop, as Trueno caught each cup, placed it down on the counter, and then fell back onto his feet.

"Like I said, everything he knows." The ram said with a bow.

"I'd say he had a great teacher then." Jin said with a laugh. "So how should I get to your house?"

"Meet Lee here around sundown; he'll take you there. I'm afraid I can't tell you what kind of food there'll be though."

"Don't worry, I like everything. See you then." Jin said, as she turned and walked out of the shop. Trueno waved goodbye, then turned to Zuko, who was staring at him with a frozen expression of shock and disbelief. Nonplussed, Trueno looked at his friend and asked, "So what happened with you two, anyway?"


	3. Dinner Preparations

Chap. 3

Dinner Preparations

"How's the peach tea?" Aang asked as Iroh and Luz took a sip. Instantly their faces contorted into grimaces as they vehemently spit it out.

"I thought you said this was tea!" Iroh muttered. "This is just hot leaf juice."

"No, it's hot leaf juice spiced with pepper." Luz muttered.

"Sorry guys, it's all we have." The Avatar replied, as he took the cups back over to the washing pot. Since there was no longer any jasmine in the inn, Iroh had been attempting to use the leaves from Fuego's spices to make something that resembled tea. But so far, nothing was working.

"I didn't think using leaves from Fuego's spices was that good of an idea anyway. He said he was trying some alterations with some of them for different flavors." Aang said.

"Couldn't have been any worse then the time he tried mixing cilantro and chili pepper." Luz muttered. "Where the hell is Trueno anyway?"

Just as those words were spoken, the door swung open and Trueno walked back in. "Everything ok here?" the ram asked aloud.

"Pretty good." Aang answered. The ram nodded; this was part of the system the group had worked out if one of them happened to leave the inn. Anyone coming back asked if everything was ok. If the answer they got back was 'fine', then the Dai Li weren't watching. If the answer was 'pretty good' then the Dai Li were watching. They'd chosen this system because it seemed like such a casual greeting; it was unlikely anyone would ever think it was anything else.

"Thank heaven! Did you get the jasmine?" Iroh asked eagerly. The ram nodded and quickly tossed the former general the bag full of leaves. Iroh caught it and quickly began to move to the firepit, while Luz smiled in anticipation.

"Actually, you're gonna have to hold off on that, Mushi." Truneo said. "We've got some serious work to do."

"What? What can be so important that it must delay tea?!" Iroh asked in astonishment.

"We've got company coming tonight, and I think we should at least try to make the house look nice. Where are the others?" The ram replied.

"Most of them went to see what they could find out about the Dai Li, but Fuego and Katara went to get stuff for dinner. What do you mean, company?" Luz asked.

"Someone's bringing a friend home from work." The ram said as he moved over to the couch and began to fluff the cushions.

"You mean Jin?" Iroh asked in surprise, the tea forgotten at this new bit of information. After Zuko had come home from his date last week, Iroh had been trying to get him to follow up on the 'nice' time he'd had with the girl. But Zuko hadn't moved forward at all. He said it was because he hadn't seen Jin at the shop lately, but Iroh thought it was because he was still unwilling to put roots down in the city.

"How on earth did you get him to invite her here?" the Firebender asked, as he moved to wash the cups stacked by the washing pot.

"Actually, I did it for him." Truneo replied. "She introduced herself and after some conversation, I managed to invite her over. Good thing too; that nephew of yours had all the charm and wit of a retarded gecko."

Iroh nodded his agreement, as Aang raised his hand and said, "Uh, sorry to interrupt, but we're still in the dark here. Who the heck is Jin?"

"A girl that Li met at the tea shop." Iroh answered. "She has quite a crush on him. Of course he didn't believe it. But I gave him a little insight and even set up a date for them last week."

"Li went a _date?_" Luz gasped in amazement.

"Wow. And I thought finding out I was the Avatar would be the biggest shock of my life." Aang added.

"Come on guys, he isn't that bad. They probably had a good time.' Truneo said.

"Yeah I can just imagine it." Luz said, giving Aang a slight nudge. Clasping her hands together, Luz mock sighed and said in a lovelorn voice, "Oh Li, you're so dark and mysterious, please tell me about yourself."

"No, I can't." Aang answered back, making his voice deep and angst ridden. "I can never reveal the dark mysteries of my soul."

"But why? I must know all about you. Your loner nature and lack of conversational skills are so attractive to me."

"Yes, but they hide a great secret, a horrible accident of my past that no one must ever know about."

"Oh no, what could that secret be? Please tell me." Luz said, as she reached over and pulled Aang's face close to hers, looking deep into his eyes.

Aang looked away a second, then broke the embrace and said, "Very well. Your feminine wiles, along with my inability to hold any more depressing secrets about myself without committing suicide, has broken me. When I was left my home all those years ago, I was a happy, carefree boy. But then, my greatest treasure was taken from me, the blanket that I had slept with since I was a baby."

"No!"

"Yes. That is why I must forever be an angst-ridden loner, for I can never retrieve my wonderful blanket, nor can anything or anyone else give me that kind of unconditional love. Now, I must leave you here and go and brood about it, to further my angst as I sleep with the makeshift doll I created to replace my blanket."

Aang looked down then, as Luz stared at him with sad puppy-dog eyes. Three seconds later, they broke character and began to laugh uncontrollably. Trueno attempted to keep his face neutral, but eventually he broke down in laughter too. Iroh even laughed, though his face went back a moment later.

"That was quite good, but I hope you do realize that Li will need your help tonight."

"Don't worry Uncle Iroh." Aang replied. "We'll get dinner together."

"It isn't just dinner. Li's has never had a lady-friend before. He left his home before he could find one, and all the traveling we did prevented him from finding one. This is his first time dealing with a girl, and I don't want to see him get hurt. You know how hard he takes things; he may very well give up."

"Good point." Luz said thoughtfully. "All right, we'll do our best to make sure tonight goes smoothly. Not that we wouldn't have done that anyway. I'll go contact Fuego and tell him to get more food for tonight."

"And I'll do some dusting." Aang said, as he moved into an Airbending stance. Holding his hand out, the young Avatar blew a stream of air around the room, doing an hour's worth of dusting in a minute. Once everything was clean, Aang gathered the dust together in a cloud, and then blew it outside the window.

"Wow. You'll make a great husband one day Aang." Trueno said, as he looked at the now dust-free room. Aang just smiled and moved to clean other parts of the inn.

* * *

The small band worked throughout the day, cleaning the inn with great speed, as the others came home and began to help themselves. Meanwhile, the day moved quickly, until it was finally sundown….

* * *

_How did I get into this again? _Zuko thought as he stood outside the teahouse, waiting for Jin. Granted, it wasn't waiting for Jin that was bothering him; Zuko really did want to make things right after what had happened last time. But he had wanted to do it on his terms. Zuko hated being shanghaied into these things that he had no control or input on. His uncle was bad enough; he didn't need Trueno or the others trying to make him do these things too.

But then again, what would he have done on his own? Zuko had to admit, he was still trying to figure out what was going on between himself and Jin. She was pretty, kind, and it was nice to know his scar didn't repulse her, like it had so many girls in his travels. But at the same time, Zuko had never been in a relationship before. His interest in girls had begun just before his banishment from the Fire Nation. Once he'd been out on the sea, he'd been forced to bury those feelings to pursue his goal of the Avatar. Now he had finally had a chance to develop those feelings, but he felt like he was years behind his age and should know more then he did. Plus, he was still apprehensive about making any sort of connection to Ba Sing Se. This city was a prison and the Dai Li were the guards. Zuko wanted to get out more then anything, and if not for the knowledge that the group possessed about the eclipse, he imagined they would have been right there with him trying to escape.

But it was Zuko's inexperience and confusion that was really why Trueno and Iroh had needed to set Zuko up. At first, the idea of Jin liking him had never even crossed his mind. He'd had no idea how to act on their date, and he'd just plain panicked during their …… Zuko smiled a bit at this thought. Even now, despite all his issues, Zuko still enjoyed the memory of their brief kiss. Yet as pleasant as it was, it still added to his confusion. Part of it was his fear of commitment to Ba Sing Se. But it was also not knowing what it meant for him. Did this mean he liked her? Were these feelings just because she had kissed him? Would it have been the same with another girl? Or was this special?

Zuko could've mediated on those thoughts for days, but before he could begin, he heard the sound of footsteps approaching him. Turing around, he saw Jin walking over from the alleyway, dressed in the same green robes and hairstyle as on their first date.

"I guess your uncle didn't want to see his ten minutes wasted again?" Jin asked jokingly, pointing to Zuko's uncombed hair.

"I didn't have time to get home; we had a late delivery." Zuko replied, gesturing to the shop.

"Probably just as well. You look better this way." Jin said, as she slipped her arm under Zuko's. "Now, I think you have a dinner waiting for me?"

Zuko nodded, and the two of them began walking in the direction of the inn. As they walked, Jin asked, "So how did you meet the Elementals anyway? I always heard that they didn't come to Earth very often."

"Well, it was back when my uncle and I were in the circus." Zuko said, trying to think quickly. "They had just found the Avatar, and they stopped in to see a show. There was a Fire Nation raid by these guys called the Rough Rhinos, and they helped us escape. They even traveled with us for a few weeks, since we were heading in the same direction. That's when Trueno taught me juggling; I used to be a lion-tamer. After my uncle and I left, we met up with them when they arrived in the city."

"Wow. I wish I could be lucky enough to meet such legends." Jin said.

"They definitely had a big effect on me." Zuko agreed.

"It must be so weird though, staying with people that are so….. well different. I mean Trueno was cool, but the others…."

As Jin spoke, Zuko felt her grip on her arm tighten. As he noticed it, something began to move around in his brain, a sense that most people would realize as intuition. Jin had been nervous when she'd met Trueno, and she sounded the same way when she spoke about the other Knights. Zuko realized then that Jin was just a simple girl who had probably never met anyone like the Avatar or the Elementals. Zuko had been around important people his entire life and he was used to their presence; it had helped him accept the Knights and the Avatar rather painlessly. But Jin hadn't and she was meeting some very important people who knew nothing about her.

"Trust me it'll be fine." He said reassuringly. "They aren't all as happy as Trueno, but they are all friendly."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Jin answered. "It's just that I'm a little nervous. I guess I'm kinda worried that they'll think I'm not worth noticing; they've so much after all."

"That won't happen." Zuko said. "And if they think that, then the fate of the world is in the hands of complete morons."

Jin's eyes widened at that, and after a second, she smiled and put her head on Zuko's arm. The boy gasped a bit at that, but kept walking, albeit with a small smile of his own.


	4. Dinner

Chap. 4

Dinner

"How's it coming?" Iroh asked, as he set the utensils down on the table.

"I think we have about another fifteen minutes." Katara answered, as she and Fuego continued to work on dinner. The two of them had been busy in the marketplace, but after hearing about Zuko's guest, they had stayed a bit longer to compile an even better meal. Katara had gathered some flour, eggs, and fish, putting them together in a dumpling mix she was currently cooking in the firepit. As for Fuego, he had collected some beef, flour, eggs, cornmeal, lettuce, tomato, cheese, beans, and several other vegetables. He'd gotten started on the rest of the meal as soon as he'd gotten home; the meat was still shimmering over the second pit he'd made, as was the cornmeal and flour, which he'd shaped into pancake-like pastries. While Katara was still curious about what the red man was making, she had to admit it smelled amazing.

"You guys sure everything is clean?" Oscuridad asked, as he set down some plates on the table.

"Aang and I went through the whole inn when we got home." Agua said from his place by the window. "Believe me, if there's anything left that isn't clean, it's because high powered water and air aren't enough to clean it."

"Don't worry about it bro, I'm sure they did a good job." Trueno said agreed, as he handed Hierro the glasses. The spider turned to the table, and thanks to his multiple arms, placed them quite quickly, despite having sixteen places.

"Isn't this a little much? I mean it's just one girl." Sokka said.

"Hey, this is Li's first girl. The least we can do is help him out." Fuego said.

"Besides Sokka, wouldn't you do the same thing if you ever brought a girl home?" Katara said.

"Hey what's with the 'if'? I've been with lots of girls." Sokka snapped.

"By our count, it's been two, plus that crazy acrobat who has a crush on you." Aang said.

"Can't blame her." Sokka said, puffing up his chest a bit. "After all, I survived Azula's interrogation; probably knocked me up to god-status in her eyes."

"Is that why she's still part of a group that's trying to kill us?" Toph asked, effectively puncturing Sokka's balloon. Before he could come up with a retort though, Luz said, "You'd better be careful tonight Sokka. I don't want to see you humiliating Li. He's under a lot of pressure to impress this girl."

"And you know he's got a lot to work on in _that _area." Toph added as she leaned back in her chair.

"You know, Sokka's not the only one I'm worried about." Luz said, looking over at Toph. "It couldn't hurt you to be a little polite either."

"I'm _always_ polite." Toph muttered, as she stuck her finger in her ear, twisted it, and then wiped it on her shirt.

"Right." Luz said sarcastically. "Look, all I'm asking is that you try to remember at least some of the things you learned about behavior and maybe not be so blunt about everything everyone says?"

"Hey, if this girl can't take a little criticism, it's not my fault." Toph answered.

"True, but if you make tonight hard on everybody and I have to ask Tierra to take away your earthbending, that will be your fault." Luz said smugly.

"You can't do that! How will I see?" Toph cried out, almost flying out of the chair.

"Like every other blind person in the world- with a cane." Luz answered.

"…." Toph tried to say something, but having no real retort, she slumped back into the char and muttered, "Fine."

Suddenly Trueno said, "I can see them coming." Hearing that, the group quickly finished their tasks and stood up, as the doorknob turned and Zuko and Jin entered.

"Evening Lee." Aang asked politely. "How was work?"

"Fine." Zuko answered in his usual brief manner. "Um, this is Jin." He said almost absent-mindedly.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Aang." The young Avatar said, as he moved over to shake the girl's hand, while Zuko prayed that everything would go smoothly.

"I know." Jin replied nervously, as Aang took her hand. "Oh, I mean everybody knows who you are, Avatar. It's an honor for you to meet me…. Wait, that's not it, I mean…"

"It's ok. I think I understand." Aang said with a laugh. "And please, call me Aang."

"Right." Jin said as someone else came up to say hello.

"My name's Sokka, I'm Li's brother. I'm sure he's told you all about me." The young boy said. But Jin looked over at Li and said, "You have a brother?"

"Half-brother, actually." Sokka grumbled as he glared at Zuko. "That's our sister Katara over there by the firepit."

"Nice to meet you." Katara said from the pit. "I'll be right there, I just need to finish dinner."

"No, take your time." Jin said, as she noticed the familiar face of Iroh (a frequent customer at the tea shop). She quickly moved over to say hello.

"How have you been Mushi?" Jin asked, as the old man greeted her warmly.

"Fine, my dear. I've been helping the Knights adapt to the lifestyle of Ba Sing Se. It's quite different from the circus though (Iroh already knew about Zuko's cover story, and he'd made sure the others did as well).

"Yeah, now he spends the whole day on the couch drinking tea." Oscuridad said as he moved over to them. Smiling at Jin, he stuck out his hand and said, "Hi, I'm Oscuridad, leader of the Elemental Knights."

Jin took the bat's hand firmly, although she stared at his face for a minute longer then she should have. Realizing her mistake, Jin quickly averted her eyes, but Oscuridad just laughed and said, "Don't worry about it. I've had people stare at me for years. As long as you don't plan to start a rampaging mob armed with torches, it's fine."

"Sorry, it's just…. Well I don't usually get to meet people like you." Jin said. Of course, she then gasped and clasped her hands over her mouth. The Knights however, just laughed.

"Don't worry about it kid. We've been dealing with this for centuries." Hierro said. "It really doesn't bother us, unless you get a mob together. Actually, how good are you at organizing people?"

"Not very." Jin said with a laugh. "I can't even get my little brother to listen to me."

"We know the feeling." The spider replied, with a gesture at Aire. The falcon responded with a curt, "Screw you."

"See what I mean?" Hierro asked. Jin nodded her agreement. "I'm Hierro by the way." The spider said. Jin quickly put out her hand, to which Hierro held out all three of his right arms. Jin stared in uncertainty for a moment, then the spider said, "Sorry, reflex. Just pick one." Jin quickly grabbed the middle arm and shook firmly.

"Maybe we should just move through the rest of the introductions quickly." Agua suggested. "I'm Agua, Knight of Water. This is Toph Bei Fong, the Avatar's Earthbending teacher, Tierra, Knight of Earth, Fuego, Knight of Fire, Aire, Knight of Air, Bosque, Knight of the Forest, Luz, Knight of Light, and Desierto, Knight of the Desert." Pausing for breath, the cat asked, "Is that everybody?" The second those words were out of his mouth, there was a squeak in the air, as something brown and white flew out of the shadows and crawled onto the cat's shoulders.

"Almost forgot. This is Momo, Aang's pet lemur and the bane of our existence." Agua said. Momo then leapt off of Agua and onto Jin, crawling around her body as he likely looked for food. But Jin moved quickly and pulled him off, then held him out in amused curiosity.

"Cute little devil, isn't he?" she said with a smile as she looked at Momo. Jin then lowered him to the ground, where he scampered off in the direction of the firepit where dinner was cooking. Of course, the second he got close to it, Katara's water-whip came down and scared him off.

"You'll get some soon enough Momo." Katara said, as she moved to pull the dumplings off of the cooking tray. Moving quickly, Katara maneuvered the tray onto the table. Dusting off her hands, she said, "OK guys, dinner's ready."

"Well it's about time." Trueno said jokingly as everyone moved to sit down. Jin began to pull out a chair, but after a motion from Oscuridad, Zuko quickly grabbed the chair and pulled it out for her. Jin smiled and sat down, as Zuko quickly down sat in the next chair.

"So what kind of food is this, Katara?" Jin asked, as she began to load her plate from the tray.

"It's a recipe from back home in the Water-Tribe." Katara answered. "It's a kind of fish dumpling. My Gran-Gran used to make them all the time."

"They sound delicious." Jin said, as she put another few dumplings on her plate.

"I'd guess so." Agua replied, as he looked at the large pile of dumplings Jin had put on her plate. "I see what he meant about her appetite." He whispered to himself, as he added a few dumplings to his plate. The group quickly began to eat, complimenting Katara's skill with each first bite. Except for Jin, who started to eat, only to pause and place her dumping back down.

"Shouldn't we wait for your brother over there?" she asked aloud, gesturing to Fuego, who was still working over by his firepit.

"Don't worry about it." The red man answered. "I don't like fish, and besides, I'm not finished with my half of dinner yet."

"Well, if you sure." Jin said, as she slowly moved back to her own dumplings.

"It's fine, just make sure you leave for my food."

"Oh don't worry about that." Jin said, as she dug into her dumplings. Fuego raised an eyebrow at the girl's appetite, but quickly turned back to his cooking. Seeing that the meat was a golden brown, Fuego quickly began to wrap the meat, vegetables and cheese into the flour and cornmeal 'pancakes.' He placed each one on a large serving plate they had found in Jouku's old quarters, then picked it up and said, "OK guys, time to be amazed."

"Hey check it out. Fue managed to go South of the border." Tierra said happily, as the red man placed the large plate next to Katara's dumplings. The Knights eagerly began to take the food, but the others merely stared in confusion.

"Uh guys, I think it's my turn to ask what these… wrap-things are." Sokka said.

"Oh it's something from our world, or at least as close to it as I could get in this world." Fuego said as he sat down. "They're called 'tacos.' Give 'em a try, they're loaded with meat."

That seemed to break at least some of Sokka's hesitation, as he gingerly reached over and took one of the softer, flour wraps. Holding it carefully, he brought it up to his lips, with everyone else watching in wonder. Slowly, Sokka took a bite, chewed once, twice, then his face opened in a wide grin and he began to eat with extreme relish.

"I'm guessing they're good." Zuko said, as he reached over and grabbed one of the cornmeal ones. As with Sokka, he ate carefully at first, but then with more enthusiasm. Seeing that, the others began to eat as well, except for Aang who asked, "Are there any that aren't loaded with meat?"

"Oh jeez, I almost forgot." Fuego said, as he quickly got back up and walked over to the firepit. Bending down, he grabbed a second plate and brought it over to the young Avatar.

"I made these with beans since you don't eat meat." The red man said, as he set the second plate down in front of Aang.

"Thanks, they smell great." Aang said as he took one and began to eat. Fuego nodded, and then moved back to his own plate.

* * *

"So anyway, the lion's roaring for the crowd, they're all going nuts, and poor Li is just standing there, enjoying it, when all of a sudden, the lion gets spooked and starts to freak out." Trueno said, as he continued with his meal. "It takes a swipe at him, Li stumbles back, trips over the barricade, and lands in a huge pile of elephant crap."

"You're kidding me!" Jin said with a laugh as she looked over at Zuko. "Li that didn't really happen?"

"No, it did." Zuko said from behind clenched teeth. This was the third 'circus story' that the group had shared in the last hour. Even though the others had tried to steer the conversation away from Zuko by answering Jin's questions about themselves, she always asked about 'Li's' time in the circus as well. For the most part, the stories the group had made up weren't too far-fetched, but they always involved Zuko getting humiliated in some way. Thus far, he'd been squashed by the fat lady, forgotten his lines as ringmaster, and now covered in elephant dung. _At least Sokka hasn't said anything yet. _He thought. _If he does, I'll probably end up leaping over the table to kill him._

"Anyway, the lion started to panic, but some of the other performers came out and tried to restrain it. Thankfully, Li pulled himself up, grabbed his whip and managed to force it back into its cage." Trueno said.

"You sure it wasn't the smell of elephant that did it?" Jin asked jokingly, with a look over at Zuko. The boy just sank further into his chair.

"Sounds like the circus was really exciting. These stories are pretty amazing." Jin said, turning back to the table.

"Yeah, I think so too." Sokka said slyly. This was followed by a smack on the back of the head from Luz.

"You know Jin." Sokka said, as he rubbed the back of his head. "I actually know this one really good story about Li's time in the circus…"

"Oh, I think we've humiliated the boy enough for one night." Iroh said, to Zuko's audible relief. "And I think it's a bit rude for us to continually talk about ourselves when there is a guest. Why you tell us a little about yourself Jin?"

"Well, there's not really much to tell." Jin said, as she put down her food. "I've lived in the city for most of my life. My parents work in the financial district, helping to keep the expenses of the city in order."

"Sounds like a fun job." Toph said.

"They enjoy it, but I could never do it. I'm hoping that maybe when I'm older, I can go back home and be a farmer like my uncle."

"Go home?" Zuko asked.

"When I was about six years old, my parents got worried about the advances from the Fire Nation. They decided that they wanted to move to Ba Sing Se from the village, so we did. I think they like it here because no one ever talks about the war. Hell, no one even mentions the Fire Nation here; my father probably likes that best."

"He hates the Fire Nation I take it?" Aang asked.

"He thinks they're just angry savages who are out to burn the whole world. He hates anything about them, and he refuses to even look at their symbol without slashing it."

"Well, I can't blame him for hating them, but it sounds like he's taking it too far." Sokka said, which caused everyone at the table to stare at him.

"Sokka, did I hit you too hard?" Luz asked.

"What? I never said I hated the whole Fire Nation." Sokka said.

"You've certainly hinted at it." Zuko said.

"Look, I just hate the soldiers and the people who follow the Fire Lord. Besides, after traveling with you guys, I can't believe that a whole nation of people is evil." Sokka explained.

"Well, it's good to hear we had at least some effect on you." Oscuridad said. "What about you Jin? What do you think about the Fire Nation?"

Jin was quiet for a moment, as she reflected on the question. Zuko watched her intently, waiting for a response. Finally, she said, "I do hate the people who have carried on the war for so long and forced me from my home. But… I agree with Sokka. I can't believe that a whole nation of people is evil and corrupt. It just isn't possible. But I am kinda surprised you all feel the same way."

"Why's that?" Trueno asked.

"You're all fighting so hard to stop the Fire Nation; I thought all that would make you hate them more then anything."

"It definitely makes us hate some people." Oscuridad said. "But the Knights have always believed in the concept of balance; of the elements, of good and evil, of everything. For all the greedy, power mad freaks in the Fire Nation, there are likely as many good-hearted people there. No one fits just one mold."

"That's been the philosophy for the Avatar too." Katara added. "It's just the imbalance that's caused this war and everything else."

"Wow. This is definitely different from what my parents, and most of the city thinks. I didn't think they were this out of tune with the ways of the world." Jin said.

"Oh you'd be surprised." Tierra muttered grimly.


	5. Meet The Parents Part 1

Chap. 5

Meet the Parents Part 1

"Anybody want dessert?" Fuego asked a while later. This was met with complete refusal, as everyone was quite full from dinner. Even Jin shook her head and said "No thanks."

"I didn't want any either. I just thought I should ask." Fuego replied, as he leaned back in his chair, feeling rather full and lethargic himself.

"You have got to show me how to make those things." Katara said. "When I go back home, I want to show Gran-Gran that I learned how to really cook something without her help."

"Hey, you show how to make those dumplings, we've got a deal." Fuego replied.

"As much as I would love to discuss that wonderful food," Iroh said. "There is a more pressing question at the moment; who has dish duty tonight?"

At that, there was silence, followed by much looking to the side and slight coughing. "Come on, someone has to do it." Iroh said good-naturedly." However, this was met by still more silence, until Agua suddenly smiled and said, "I'll do it. But I think I could use some help. Aire, Toph, why don't you give me a hand?"

"Last I checked, you could still use your hands." Toph muttered.

"I did it last night." Aire replied.

"I know a way we'll be done in five minutes." The cat replied slyly.

"What? Magic?" Toph asked sarcastically.

"Yes. The kind you two are very skilled in, that uses earth and air."

"Oh, I get it." Aire said in sudden recognition as he got up and moved over to where the cat stood.

"Hey, if I get to earthbend, why not?" Toph said, as she joined them. Agua quickly brought them in close and whispered some instructions to them. Aire nodded, and Toph just smiled. Moving apart, Toph stood by the table, while Agua grabbed a bar of soap and dunked his left hand in the washing basin. He then moved to stand a few feet behind Toph. Aire went to stand a few feet behind them.

"This is another thing from our world, Jin." Agua said, as he began to rub the soap against his soaked left hand. Within seconds, that hand was dripping with soapy water. "We call it 'dinner and a show.'" The cat said, as he placed the soap down. "You guys might want to take any utensils and such off your plates now." He said. Once they had complied, Agua said, "Toph, if you wouldn't mind?"

The young Earthbender nodded, and using her power, reached out to the stone plates on the table. They instantly lifted up into the air and remained there, held by Toph's earthbending. As the others watched, Toph brought the plates forward towards Agua and held them there. The cat quickly brought up his soapy left hand and blasted the plates with a stream of soapy water. They were sprayed clean in a matter of seconds. Agua then brought up his clean hand and sent out a stream of clean water to wash the soap off.

As the plates dripped water, Toph sent them over to Aire, who collected the air around him and sent it out in a high-powered blast, drying the plates almost instantly. Once they were dry, Aire stepped back, as Toph piled the plates together and sent them neatly into their place in the cabinet. Aire shut the door, and then the trio took a collective bow.

The others smiled and applauded, Jin most off all. "Now I really wish I could bend." She said with a laugh. "I could've used that trick growing up."

"You would've had to learn more then one for that." Toph replied. "Earthbending's too dirty to do that sort of job by itself."

"And if you don't believe that, you need to see Toph and Tierra's rooms." Zuko said. Jin laughed, happy that Zuko had finally made a joke, while Toph and Tierra glared at him.

"You know, I just thought of this." Toph said suddenly. "How come you never let me use bending to do the dishes before?"

"We had a guest tonight, and this was a nice little bit of entertainment." Agua said. "Besides, making you actually _do_ the dishes taught you about the value of hard work."

"I know all about the value of hard work." Toph snapped. "How do you think I got so good at Earthbending?"

"Yeah, but you can't always use Earthbending to fix problems." Agua said. "You don't see Katara or Aang or me and the Knights using our powers for everything do you? Besides, you did it and you're still alive aren't you?"

Before Toph could answer that, there was a sudden series of small explosions from the time candle by the door (apparently, the Mechanist from the Northern Air Temple had been able to patent this particular invention and it was now found in every home in the Earth Kingdom). The candle sparked exactly eight times, signifying that it was now 'eight o' candle.' When Jin heard the candle, her eyes went wide, and she shot up from her chair.

"Oh no, it's that late?" she cried out.

"Is something wrong?" Iroh asked.

"My father told me to be home half a candle ago! And it'll take me at least that long just to walk home from here! He's gonna kill me!"

"Well, maybe we can help." Aang said. "I have a way to get you home quickly. But you're gonna have to know the way back perfectly."

"I've lived in the city for most of my life. I know it like the back of my hand." Jin answered.

"Good. Follow me outside." Aang said, as he headed for the back door. Jin raised an eyebrow in confusion and looked over at Zuko. The former prince nodded, and got up to follow her.

"Hey buddy, how you doing tonight?" Aang asked Appa, as he stroked his friend's fur. The bison replied with a yawn and got to his feet, just as Jin and Zuko walked outside. Jin's eyes immediately went wide at the sigh of Appa, as she nervously pointed a finger at him and asked, "What is that thing?"

"This is Appa, my flying bison." Aang replied.

"Wait, _flying _bison?" Jin asked. "How? He doesn't have any wings or anything? And you expect me to ride him?"

"Believe me, he flys." Zuko said. "And don't worry, he's perfectly safe." To demonstrate, Zuko moved over to Appa and put his hand on the bison's face, gently stroking him.

"See?" Zuko said. "Perfectly safe." Jin seemed to believe this, as she began to move towards the bison, but then stopped and gasped as Appa began to open his mouth right behind Zuko. But her fears were alleviated a second later, when Appa merely stuck his tongue out and gave Zuko a long, wet lick that went from the small of his back to the back of his head. Zuko grimaced as the drool slid down his back, but Jin just laughed, walked past him, and climbed onto Appa's saddle with some help from Aang.

"You coming, Li?" Aang asked, stretching out his hand. Zuko paused a moment here; he still hated flying on Appa (Firebenders were apparently very attached to the ground), but at the same time, it was his doing that had brought Jin to the inn. The least he could do would be to go home and apologize to her parents for keeping her out late. So with a sigh, Zuko put his hand out, took Aang's, and climbed into the saddle.

"So how does this work?" Jin asked, as Zuko settled in.

"You both holding on tight?" Aang asked. Both of them nodded, so Aang said the only thing he needed to say; "Yip-Yip." Appa instantly took off, which lead to screams of shock and then amazement from Jin.

"This is incredible!" she cried out as Appa soared above the city. "I can't believe you do this all the time."

"Neither can I." Zuko muttered, as he tried not to look at the ground.

* * *

Appa flew through the city quickly, as Jin guided them towards her home. After about ten minutes, Jin saw the front of her home and called out, "That's it! Land here." Aang steered Appa down to the front of the house and then once the bison landed, leapt off. Zuko slid off Appa's saddle, took a moment to steady himself after the flight, and then helped Jin back to the ground.

Unsurprisingly, Jin's legs were also shaky after her first "Appa ride" and she needed a few minutes to collect herself. "Does the ground always look better after riding on Appa?" she asked as she unsteadily took a step forward.

"Always." Zuko replied, as he watched her walk. Just as he's known from his own experience, Jin stumbled on her first step. Moving quickly, Zuko caught her and helped her back to her feet. But by doing this, Zuko neglected to hear the front door opening, as well as the footsteps coming towards him. However, he was quite observant when a hand grabbed him by the collar and jerked him forward, and even more observant when an angry face screamed at him, "WHERE THE _HELL _HAVE YOU BEEN WITH MY DAUGHTER?!!"


	6. Meet The Parents Part 2

Chap. 6

Meet the Parents Part 2

"Uh,… well… um…" Zuko stammered as he tried to get an explanation across to the tall, burly man that could only be Jin's father. He was dressed in a simple green robe much like his daughter's, and stood at about six feet tall. His face was covered by a thick beard, and unfortunately for Zuko, curled into a snarl.

"I'm waiting!" the man snapped as his squat, angry, face pushed into Zuko's. The former prince gulped, as his mind went utterly blank. Disgusted, the man reared back as if he was going to slap him.

"Daddy, stop it!" Jin yelled, stepping in front of her father and grabbing his hand. "I'm sorry ok? We were having a good time and I lost track of the candle. You don't need to yell at him!"

"I'll yell at whoever I want, young lady!" Jin's father replied, turning his attention over to his daughter. "I told you when you needed to be home, and I was told that this boy would be trustworthy enough to make sure it happened!"

"Dad, it wasn't a date! I want over to Li's house for dinner with him and his friends."

"Yeah sir, " Aang added, trying to calm things down. "And I can tell you that everything was perfectly…"

"Did I ask you?" the man snapped at Aang. "And who in the hell are you supposed to be, baldy?"

"Can't you tell, Kinjo?" a voice said suddenly from the front of the house. Everyone turned around to see a woman, middle-aged but still slim, standing by the door. She wore a light yellow robe, and her long brown hair was tied into a ponytail that was slung over one shoulder.

"Aia, I'm trying to talk with our daughter here." Kinjo said, turning to his wife.

"No, you're yelling at the boy who took her to dinner, and you're mouthing off to the Avatar." Aia replied.

"What are you woman, crazy?" Kinjo said with a laugh. "The Avatar? Some bald kid….. with arrow tattoos….. and a staff….(there was a animal grunt at this point) and that's a flying bison over there isn't it?"

"Yep." Aang said.

Kinjo shut his eyes, rubbed them very hard, then turned to Aang and asked, "How much groveling should I do right now?"

"An apology will do fine." Aang replied with a smile. Kinjo nodded weakly, bowed, and mumbled an apology.

"My apologies for my husband. He has a very hard time with his temper." Aia replied, as she walked over to the group. Moving to Aang and Zuko, she said, "I'm glad my daughter has found someone responsible enough to escort her home late at night, Li. And it is truly an honor to have you in our home, Avatar Aang."

Both boys bowed at this show of respect, as Jin whispered, "Thanks Mom."

"Now then, would you boys like to come in for a moment? I have some cookies and a hot pot of tea brewing."

Zuko grimaced a bit at the mention of tea, but both he and Aang accepted the invitation, not wanting to insult their hostess. "Come in then." Aia said, gesturing towards her open door. Nodding, everyone quickly moved inside, with Aang gesturing for Appa to wait outside.

* * *

The inside of the small house turned out to have the same warmth as its mistress. While the furniture was a bit thread worn, and it was certainly less then the temple-raised Aang and palace raised Zuko had been used to, they both had to admit that it was quite homey. "Come in, please, make yourselves at home." Aia said, as she moved over to the firepit to check on the steaming pot of tea. Zuko and Aang moved to sit at the table, while Kinjo stood in the back and muttered something. But Jin shut her father a hostile glance and he quickly moved to the table with her.

Zuko kneeled down at the low, chair-less table, while he took a cup from Aia. As he looked around the room, he suddenly noticed a pair of eyes looking at him from behind a chair. Before he could say anything, Zuko felt the ground violently move underneath him and toss him to the ground. Kinjo chuckled a bit, but Jin gasped and quickly moved to help Zuko back up. Aia turned, took one look at what had happened, and called out, "Hita, you come out of there right now young man!"

"Aw mom, it was just a joke." Muttered the voice from behind the chair as a messy, dark haired twelve year old came out from behind it.

"I don't care. How many times have your farther and I told you, only use your earthbending for defending yourself!" Aia said sternly to her young son. "Isn't that right, Kinjo?"

"Wha.. Yes of course." Kinjo said, as he dropped a quick wink at his son. Zuko shook his head in exasperation as he looked at the exchange between father and son. However, a moment later, Aia said, "Now you apologize to Li, or else no lessons this week." Hita rolled his eyes, but apologized anyway.

"Sorry Li, he's a little overprotective of me." Jin said as her brother moved over to a chair.

"It's ok. I just wish he couldn't use the earth to demonstrate it." Zuko replied

"So Li, how did you and the Avatar meet anyway?" Aia asked, as she moved over to the table and poured the two of them their tea.

"We met in a circus a few months ago." Zuko said. "My uncle and I were working there at the time, and Aang and his friends ended up traveling part of the way to the city with us."

"I must say, it sounds exciting." Aia said. "Seeing so much of the world, and I'm sure the circus must've been amazing every night."

"I can honestly say I've never seen anything like it." Aang replied as he sipped his tea.

"What sort of acts did they have?" Aia asked.

"Oh the usual." Zuko replied. "Acrobats, animal acts, clowns, everything you'd expect."

"There was even a Firebender there, who'd come over from the Fire Nation." Aang said.

But at that, Aia suddenly looked nervous. And with good reason, as Kinjo suddenly yelled out, "What the hell kind of Avatar are you?! You're supposed to protect us from the Fire Nation, and you worked with one?!"

"It isn't exactly like that…." Aang began, but Kinjo slammed his fist down on the table and cut him off. "So you actually support those crazy bastards! I knew this Avatar crap was too good to be true. You're just another pawn of theirs!"  
"Dad, that's enough!" Jin said, jumping to her feet. "With all due respect sir, I think she's right." Zuko said.

"Don't you start with me boy!" Kinjo snapped, whipping around to face Zuko. "You're not out of the clear either. I'll bet you hired that filthy Firebender, didn't you? You probably wanted to use him to force a little extra payment out of your customers, didn't you?"

"Kinjo, that's enough!" Aia yelled, slamming the teapot. "These boys are our guests and they deserve our respect. Do you really want to insult the Avatar and his friend in front of our children? Besides, you know that the Avatar preaches balance, not annihilation. I know you're angry about today, but keep your hatred of the Fire Nation in check for one night."

Kinjo was silent a moment, as he stared angrily at his wife. Then he sighed and said, "You're right, you're right. Li, Avatar Aang, I apologize. I had no right to take out my frustrations on you, and now I've dishonored myself in front of you."

"It's ok sir." Aang said. "But what happened to make you so angry?"

Sighing, Kinjo said, "I needed to get clearance from the Dai Li today in order to leave the city tomorrow, for a ceremony in my home village. But they wouldn't grant it."

"Oh no Dad. They won't let us out for Hai Ceto Day?" Jin asked in shocked disappointment.

"No, they say it's too dangerous for anyone to go outside the city right now." Kinjo said in disappointment. "Now I'll have to send word to the village saying we can't come."

"Maybe, maybe not." Zuko said. "What is this Hai Ceto Day?"

"It's an ancient blessing that happens in my village every year." Kinjo explained. "According to legend, the founder of my village once vanquished a powerful demon that was threatening the land. But he couldn't destroy it, only lock it away. So each year, everyone in the village, past and present, gives a tribute in order to keep the creature locked up and insure a good harvest. No one's ever missed it, but now I get to break the cycle."

"I don't think so." Zuko said. Turning to Aang he asked, "Appa could carry them, right?"

"I'd be shocked if he couldn't." Aang replied.

"Excuse me, what are you talking about?" Kinjo said.

"The Avatar has a flying bison that we used to take Jin home." Zuko explained. "He could take you to your village faster then you could reach it on foot. And the Dai Li has given us the privilege of leaving and re-entering whenever we wish."

"The only thing is, my friends are likely going to want to come." Aang added. "We've been in the city for a long time, and we could all use the break. Would that be all right?"

"Are you kidding? That would be perfect!" Kinjo said with a grin as he reached over and pumped Aang and Zuko's hands. "Thank you both so very much! I can't believe that you would do this after how badly I insulted you."

"That's the kind of person they are Dad." Jin said with a smile and a look at Zuko.

"Of course, we'll need to check this all out with our friends tonight, but I'm sure it won't be a problem." Aang said.

"Of course it won't! A toast, family, to the glory of the Avatar, and the long life of his friends!" Kinjo said, grabbing a cup of tea and raising it high. The others quickly joined in, as everyone drank to the good health of Avatar Aang and Zuko, former Prince of the Fire Nation.


	7. The Next Day

Chap. 7

The Next Day

"Did we have to get up this early?" Toph muttered, as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. The early morning light shone down, as the young Earthbender made her way out of the inn and into the front yard.

"According to Aang and Zuko, yes." Trueno said, as he tightened the harness on Appa's saddle. After returning home last night, Aang and Zuko had informed the group of Jin's situation. While their had been some initial discussion on such a big excursion, no one had put up any major complaints about. Part of it had been wanting to help Jin and her family, and a bigger part was wanting to get out of the controlled city for even one day.

However, there had been one thing that had almost thrown a wrench into the whole thing, which everyone had grudgingly agreed to. Apparently, the trip would require them to leave just after sunrise, even on Appa. Toph and Sokka had been most opposed to this, but thankfully, the prospect of leaving Ba Sing Se for a day had been enough to convince them. But now that she was standing here in the early morning light, Toph began to think about how good her bed would've felt for another few hours.

"You the first one up?" Trueno asked, as he finished with Appa's saddle and began to feed him some hay. The ram had volunteered to get up early and prepare Appa for the ride (he'd always been an early riser, so Trueno had figured he would've been the logical choice anyway). Therefore, by whatever mental clock forced him to rise each morning, the ram had risen about an hour before sunrise and had been loading Appa with enough supplies for the day.

"No, she's actually the last." Katara said as she exited the inn. "We saved some breakfast for you Toph. Fuego made eggs."

"Yea." Toph muttered tiredly, as she turned on her heels and walked back inside the inn.

"She's gonna be fun, isn't she?" Katara asked, once Toph was inside.

"You know Toph. She does everything her way. Besides, how many times do you think her parents made their 'poor, helpless' blind daughter wake up early?" Trueno asked.

"Good point." Katara said. "So are we ready?"

"As ready as we'll ever be." The ram replied.

"Of course, it still sounds like we have to worry about Jin's father." Katara added.

"I don't think so. Aang said he told the man about Fuego, and he was ok with it. Besides, Iroh and Zuko are smart enough to be careful. Especially Zuko; I know he doesn't want this girl to hate him."

"Aww, Zuko's in love." Katara said with a laugh. "It's still strange to think of him that way though. He's always been such a loner, and so secretive."

"Everybody deserves to be happy." The ram answered. "Besides, people like that are the ones who want love most; they're just too afraid to go for it and they stay loners."

Katara nodded, and then looked over as something caught her eye. As Trueno glanced over at it too, he smiled as he saw the forms of Jin and her family approaching the inn.

"Good morning to you." The ram said cheerfully, as he and Katara moved over to greet them.

"It's good to see you too, Trueno." Jin said, as she reached out and gave the ram a quick hug. "Apparently." The ram said with a smile, as Jin repeated the gesture with Katara.

"You must be Kinjo." The ram said, turning to the large burly man who stared at him with a bit of shock and awe. "My name is Trueno. I'm the Elemental Knight of Thunder. And this is Katara, Master Waterbender. It's very nice to meet you." The ram said, ignoring the man's shock and greeting him as warmly as he could.

"Uh, yes, thank you." Kinjo replied, trying to shake off his fear. "It's an honor to meet you both. This is my wife Aia and my son, Hita." He added, gesturing to his family.

"Nice to meet you as well." Katara said, shaking Aia's hand. "Would you like some breakfast? One of the Knights was just finishing up some eggs."

"That sounds very nice." Aia said. "And I'm sure Hita here is quite eager to meet the Elemental Knights."

"Well, we'll try not to ruin his youthful enthusiasm too much." Trueno said, as they moved inside the inn.

* * *

The meeting inside went over quite well, despite everyone's early morning gripes. Jin's family was very happy to meet everyone, especially Iroh, who was at his most easy-going and charming. And the others were not far behind (even Toph managed to be halfway sociable). The only tense moment came when Kinjo was introduced to Fuego. Everyone paused then, and watched as the living voice of Fire met with a man who hated his people more then anything else in the world. But perhaps realizing the situation, or perhaps due to his family, Kinjo merely shook Fuego's hand and then sat back down and said nothing else to him until they were ready to leave. It wasn't great, but given the alternative, everyone took it.

"So, everybody ready?" Aang said, as he led them all out to Appa a little while later. The bison looked up from his meal of hay, saw the people approaching him, and with a grunt, stood back up on his feet.

"Are you sure that he's safe?" Aia asked, as she looked at the huge animal.

"He's perfectly safe, Mom." Jin said, as she walked over to Appa. Grabbing the saddle, the young girl pulled herself up and sat down.

"Well, all right then." Aia said a bit nervously, as she made her way over to the large bison, Kinjo and Hita following behind her. Grabbing the saddle, they made their way up and sat down. But it was then that Jin voiced a thought; "Are you sure you can fit everybody in here?"

"Don't worry, Aang can fly on his own." Oscuridad said. "And we've figured out the rest. We'll just need you to fly ahead and tell us where to go."

Jin still seemed a bit puzzled as to how they could pull this off, but decided to trust the others' plan. But her confusion grew bit by bit, as Iroh, Sokka, Toph, Momo, and Katara climbed in and filled up the saddle. Jin truly grew confused now, as the Knights and 'Li' now had no way to ride in the saddle. Turning back to the Knights, she started to ask her question, but got an answer before she even asked. The Knights' bodies suddenly began to glow with power, as their respective elements suddenly washed over them. Within seconds, the elements had hardened in glistening suits of armor. As Jin and her family watched in amazement, metallic wings suddenly grew out of the backs of the Knights' armor.

"You guys head out, we'll follow." Oscuridad said suddenly.

"Right." Sokka replied, as he moved down to the reins. Grabbing them, he cracked the reins and called out, "Appa, Yip-Yip!" Appa instantly took off, Aang trailing behind on his glider, as Jin kept her eyes on what was going on down on the ground. One by one, the armored Knights took off into the air and followed. All except Oscuridad, and as Jin watched, she began to understand why….

"You sure you're ready for this?" the bat asked Zuko, as he moved himself into position.

"No, but what else can I do?" Zuko muttered angrily, as he tightened his grip.

"Hey, we could've taken Toph; you didn't have to volunteer for this."

"Just take off." Zuko muttered.

"All right. Try not to look down." The bat said, as he bent down and then launched himself up into the sky, Zuko holding on tight to his back. The former prince kept his eyes shut, not wanting to look at any of what was going on. _Why did I agree to this? _He asked himself as the wind bit at his face. _Toph would be better; she can't be afraid of heights._

_**You did this because you thought Jin would think it was cool. **_A voice in the back of his mind said.

_No I didn't! There wasn't any more room, and it had to be somebody. I was trying to be nice._

_**Right. That's why you made sure she could see you climb on board. **_The voice said.

Zuko gritted his teeth in response, but could think of nothing else to say.

* * *

Appa and the Knights soared over the city walls, to the delight and amazement of Jin's family. Under the guidance of Kinjo, the group soared over the vast landscape of the Earth Kingdom. While they traveled, Jin and her family conversed about the ceremony, how Kinjo's paranoia about the Fire Nation had driven to Ba Sing Se, and their lives in the financial district. By contrast, Katara and Sokka talked about life in the South Pole, while Toph discussed her own upbringing. Jin listened to all of it politely, but her constant gazes to the side told everyone that she wanted to hear only one specific life story.

But, perhaps sensing that Zuko was not ready to (nor very good at creating one) divulge a false history for Jin, Oscuridad kept far from Appa. Indeed, the trip the two of them spent was a rather quiet one, with Zuko deep in 'quiet reflection mode' and Oscuridad, knowing from personal experience how difficult that was, keeping his mouth shut.

_What am I going to do? _Zuko thought as the air streamed past his face. _I can't tell her… can I? No! She may like me now, but she'd never accept me as a Firebender. And her father…. Darya, he'd rip me to shreds. And Jin would hate me for lying to her. I couldn't live with myself if she hated me. She means too much to me._

_Wait, what did I just say? _Zuko thought in shock. But he knew that it was true. Despite all his insecurities, all his beliefs that putting down roots would ruin him, Zuko had developed feelings towards Jin. How deep they were, he didn't know. But the more he thought about it, the more he wanted a chance to try and find out. Even if this was just a 'first crush' that didn't mean anything, Zuko wanted to find out for himself. As he thought about Jin, and how happy she would be once he started really returning her advances, he had to smile himself.

But Zuko was torn out of that little daydream a moment later, when he felt Oscuridad shake slightly and say, "Looks like we're here." Shaking his head to clear his mind, Zuko looked over and saw the outline of a small farming village appear on the horizon. It was quite dusty and ragged looking, but the more Zuko gazed at it; the more he felt something tug at his heart. There was something about this place that made Zuko feel uncomfortable, especially concerning his relationship with Jin. But what was it? This was just a simple village; there was nothing here that could hurt him. All there was were some buildings, several Earth Kingdom flags blowing around, and a lookout tower…..

_Oh no. _Zuko gaped, as he recognized the tower and subsequently, the town it belonged to. Instantly, he leaned down to Oscuridad and whispered, quite urgently, "Land! NOW!" The bat turned his head to face him, but seeing the panicked look in Zuko's eyes, the bat nodded and began to descend. Within a few minutes, they had landed by a large Joshua tree near the town entrance.

"Now then, what's wrong?" the bat asked, as his armor vanished around him. Zuko's response was to pull him behind the tree, out of sight of anyone.

"Do you remember what I told you about how I separated from Uncle and did some traveling on my own?" Zuko asked.

"Yeah, you said you came to a village and….. oh no…. you can't be serious."

"I am. This is that same village!" Zuko said urgently.

"Holy bleeding monkey-balls!" Oscuridad cursed aloud. "And you said everyone there kicked you out?"

"Every single person watched as I left." Zuko replied. "I'll never be able to walk in without everyone in town grabbing their pitchforks and trying to kill me."

"And this is after you saved them." Oscuridad said. "Thank God you didn't attack them. But there might be something I can do. Now, this may sting a bit…"


	8. Things Go Horribly Wrong Part 1

Chap. 8

Things Go Horribly Wrong Part 1

"So where's the welcoming committee?" Sokka asked as Appa landed.

"The ceremony takes place at my uncle's farm; it overlooks the main farming area." Jin explained as she dismounted. "But my cousin always comes to meet us."

"Then I'm guessing that's him now." Aire said, pointing to the small figure that was running towards them from a distance. Turning, Jin looked at the approaching figure, smiled, and then motioned to her family to turn and face the boy. Moving out, Jin stood with her arms wide, just as the figure ran into her.

"Nice try!" Jin said with a laugh, as she grabbed the figure and spun him around. Laughing, the figure accepted the ride and once Jin stopped, hugged his cousin.

"Good to see you again, Cousin Lee." Jin said as the young boy moved away from her.

"You too." The young boy replied. "But who are they?" he asked, pointing to the group behind his cousin, as well as Appa.

"Lee, you know better then to point." Aia said.

"Sorry Aunt Aia, but who are they?" he asked again.

At that, Aang came forward and said, "My name's Aang. I'm…"

"Aang?! You're the Avatar!" Lee cried in amazement. "Oh man, the Avatar is right here in my hometown! But wait, if you're here, then those guys.." he said, looking over at the Knights.

"The Elementals, at your service." Agua said, with a bow.

"Ohmanohmanohman!" Lee said, with the pure excitement that only a ten-year-old boy can muster, as he jumped around in pure excitement. "And, and, that's Katara! And Toph! And Appa and Momo! And….." the boy paused now, as he looked at Sokka in puzzlement.

"I know it ends with an 'okka.'" He muttered. "Um, Kotkka, No, Totakka."

"_Sokka."_ Sokka finally blurted out.

"No, that's not it." Lee said, as Sokka groaned and slapped his forehead.

"It is Sokka, Lee." Kinjo said. "And you'll have plenty of time to talk with them once we get to your father's farm."

"But Uncle Kinjo, you can't just bring people like this here and then not tell me why!" Lee said. "Come on, at least tell how you brought them here."

"Actually, they brought us." Hita said. "Jin's boyfriend is friends with the Avatar and he got us the ride."

"He is _not _my boyfriend!" Jin snapped at her brother. But a second later, she looked around and realized the group was one short. "Where is Li?" she asked, not seeing him or Oscuridad.

"They were following us a second ago." Iroh said, looking around in worry. But everyone's fear was put to rest a second later when Oscuridad and Zuko came walking up through the entrance a moment later.

"Sorry about that. Something got caught in my armor and we had to stop and get it out." The bat said as he and Zuko rejoined the group.

"Just make sure you tell us next time." Iroh scolded.

"It's ok. Anyway, I'd like you both to meet my cousin… Lee." Jin said with a shrug as she introduced the young boy.

"Don't worry. We had this same problem with his father." Iroh said. "Just call him Junior until we leave here." Zuko grimaced at his uncle, but said nothing.

Ignoring the name issue altogether, Lee moved over to Osc, and started asking a million questions. "Can you really walk through walls? Can you raise the dead? I heard you can make black fire! Can you do it now? Can you, huh?"

"Whoa dude, one at a time." The bat said, putting up his hands. "I'll see what I can do."

"Great!" Lee said. Moving over to Zuko, he calmly shook the boy's hand and said, "Nice to meet you."

"You too." Zuko replied.

"Well, we'd better get moving." Kinjo said. "The ceremony's at noon, and it'll take most of the morning to get everything set up."

Nodding, the group began to move forward, with Lee and Kinjo leading the way. But Zuko and Oscuridad stayed in the back of the group, and after a moment, the bat whispered, "That was the same kid wasn't it?"

"Yes. And he didn't recognize me at all." Zuko whispered back.

"I'd be ashamed if he did. Remember, that shadow-disguise I cast over you will make you look and sound different to everyone in the village. Good thing shadow makes excellent disguises. I was able to make it so that Jin and the others won't see any changes, but we'll have to tell them so there are no slip-ups. But remember, and I feel stupid for saying this, but under no circumstances can you bend now. Bending, despite what people may tell you, is a form of elemental magic; the same kind that we Knights draw our power from. Using your power will interfere with the magic of my shadow and undo the disguise."

"Believe me, I'm not about to get myself thrown out of the village again." Zuko replied, as he and the bat walked on.

* * *

The group walked through most of the village on the way to Lee's farm. Once there, they were greeted by all manner of squeals from the variety of pig/animal mixtures.

"We always know when someone's coming." Lee said with a grin.

"No kidding." Sokka said. Behind him, Zuko shook his head in a sad kind of nostalgia. But he didn't have much time to think about it, as Kinjo suddenly cried out in happiness as his brother (Lee's father) emerged from the house, with his wife. Once again, greetings took place between the group and the family. Zuko kept to the back as much as he could, but when he was forced to meet the family, he did so quickly and quietly, not wanting to draw any attention to himself. The family took it as shyness and Jin just shrugged it off, which Zuko was exceptionally grateful for.

"So how does this all get started?" Toph asked, impatient to get the ceremony over with.

"Well, we have to get the platform finished first." Kinjo said, pointing to a large pile of timber that sat next to an incomplete platform. "Plus, we need to make the ceremonial firepit for the sacrifices. But that should be it until the monk gets here." He added.

At that, Bosque, Toph, Hierro, and Aang looked at each other and smiled. Moving over to the incomplete platform, Bosque moved into a stance, positioning his hands out to the pile of timber. Lifting his hands, he used his power over woods to lift up the timber. As it floated in the air, Bosque then moved them over to the incomplete framework. Moving his hands around, the squirrel positioned each piece of timber into its correct place on the platform.

As his brother held them in place, Hierro moved to the timber and held out his six arms. As the group watched, the spider's fingers began to lengthen, until there were twenty-four long metal spikes coming forth from the spider's hand. A second later, the fingers shot out, directing themselves right into the appropriate spots on the wood, locking it into place.

"That.. that, usually takes three days. They just did in three minutes!" Lee's father gaped as he stared at the completed platform.

"Great, now about that firepit?" Toph asked from the side, where she and Aang stood. "What are we looking at here?"

"Um, well, it's usually a large hollow circular column, about seven feet high right next to the platform. Both Earthbenders nodded, and with a stomp of her feet, Toph brought a column fitting those exact descriptions up next to the platform. Aang then leapt on top of the column and slammed his fist down, creating a large hole that shot down to the bottom of the platform.

"So, do you have any tea then?" Iroh asked, as the family stared in amazement.

* * *

Lee's family didn't have tea, but they did have some food, which the group enjoyed while they waited for the ceremony to begin. They didn't have long to wait. Soon people began arriving from all corners of the village bringing their offerings. Kinjo and his brother took each of them with a nod, and placed them onto the platform near the fire pit (they would have to be blessed before they could be burned). After some time, an elderly Earth Sage appeared, and the ceremony was begun.

As everyone crowded around the platform, the Sage climbed up and said, "We have gathered here, at the mid-point of spring, to ask the Earth-God Chirron to bless our offering. We ask you, great Chirron, to hear the voice of your people, and continue to protect them from the monster that out ancestors imprisoned all those centuries ago."

With that, the Sage reached into the folds of his robe and brought out what looked like a strange golden globe, on which was imprinted the various phases of the sun and moon.

"What is that?" Iroh whispered to Jin.

"It's called the _Ra-ketah._" Jin answered. "It's supposed to represent the prison that the demon remains in, held by all the forces of earth and time."

"Very nice." Iroh said, as he watched. The Sage took the _Ra-Ketah _and held it over the pile of offerings the village had made. Bowing his head, he began to quietly pray over them. The crowd followed suit, as did the Avatar gang and the Knights. In the near-silence that followed, the sound of every person's prayers could be heard with a little effort. But that wasn't what Oscuridad heard. The bat's ears twitched, as a new sound began to fill his sensitive ears. Straining them a bit, he tried to discern what it was he was hearing. It sounded like something creeping along on the ground, something big, which was moving very fast….

But before he could figure that out, he heard a sharp intake of breath from Tierra. Glancing over at his brother, he saw the dog's face contort into an expression of fear. A second later, he heard a gasp from Toph, who's face was filled with equal fear at something she'd felt in the ground. All three of them turned towards the sound and scent, until they saw what it was. Gasping in shock at the sight of it, they did the only thing possible they could- yell "EVERYBODY RUN!! NOW!!"

Everyone naturally stopped and turned at the sound of this, but before anyone could move, two huge blast of blue fire suddenly shot out from either side of the crowd, setting fires that effectively trapped them. The people began to panic, but Aang and the others merely drew their weapons or moved in attack stances, as the Fire Nation tank pulled up and came to a stop. They held those stances as the front of the tank opened, and an all-too-familiar trio of girls walked out. Azula looked over the crowd, smiled evilly and said, "I knew you'd leave the city eventually Avatar. But I hoped you'd pick a better space to die."


	9. Things Go Horribly Wrong Part 2

Chap. 9

Things Go Horribly Wrong Part 2

"What do you Fire-Nation scum want here?" Kinjo snarled, staring at the trio of girls with burning hatred. "Get out, and let us perform our ceremony to Chirron!"

"Chirron….. hey I know that name!" Ty Lee said suddenly. But then her face contorted in confusion as she asked, "Wait, isn't that a vegetable? Why do you have a ceremony to a vegetable?"

"Oh Chirron isn't a vegetable." Azula said smugly, as the crowd collectively growled at the acrobat. "He's the Earth-God. You know, the weak, filthy, savage that these people worship. I imagine it's because he isn't that far removed from them."

"Do you have a point here?" Sokka asked. "Because I'm not really in the mood to bad-mouth a god right now."

"I suppose you're right." Azula said. With that, her voice grew hard as she said "My point is simple. You will surrender the Avatar to me now, or this village will be destroyed."

"Interesting proposal, but no." Aire said. "Last time I checked, there were sixteen of us, and only three of you."

But Azula only smiled, and pointed behind the crowd. Suddenly, there was a deep rumbling, as three more Fire Nation tanks rolled up from the back of the village. With a hiss of steam, they stopped as at least two platoons of Fire Nation troops exited and moved into formation.

"Oh. Never mind." Aire said weakly, as he looked back at Azula.

"Now, are you ready to give me what I want, or do you require further persuasion?" Azula asked.

But before any of the gang could respond, Kinjo's voice suddenly rang out, proud and strong. "I recognize you; the stories about you and the horrors you've inflicted have spread from refugees in Ba Sing Se. You are Azula, Princess of the Fire Nation. You've destroyed homes, lives, and land for your father's insane dream." Kinjo said, coming up to the front. Staring right at the Firebender, Kinjo said, "My people have lost enough to you and your soldiers. You will not take our last hope; you will not take the Avatar! And if I must die to stop you, then my life will have been given in sacrifice for the Earth Kingdom, and the world!"

As Kinjo finished his speech, a sound began to grow from behind him, a sound that grew with each second. The roar from the townspeople reached a fever pitch, as they moved to stand behind Kinjo and the Avatar Gang. These people had lost too many sons and daughters to the war, had spent too much time under the oppression of the renegade Earth Kingdom soldiers. They would not be oppressed again, and they would not let their last hope go without a fight. They stood united, many armed with only their fists, a few with wooden staffs and pitchforks, but all ready to battle. Even the Earth Sage stood ready to fight, as he moved into an Earthbending stance, the _Ra-Ketah _held firmly in his hand.

"I think you might want to rethink this whole plan, Princess." Iroh said with to his niece with relish.

But Azula was nothing if not conniving. "I see you people may actually have some courage in you." The Princess said, her mind working quickly. "But perhaps we can work out another deal. You obviously hate the Fire Nation, and all its superior children. So perhaps you would be interested hear that you actually have two of its sons in your midst."

At this, there was some gasping from the crowd, as the Avatar Gang and the Knights exchanged quick glances of fear. If Azula blew their cover now, there was no telling what could happen. And without the townspeople united behind them, the battle would be significantly against them. Frantically, they each tried to think of some way to stall Azula. But before any of them could stop her, she pointed to Zuko and Iroh and said, "You may have heard that Prince Zuko and General Iroh betrayed the Fire Nation. Give them to me now, and I will leave. I can capture the Avatar anytime. But the Fire Lord would love to destroy his worthless, traitorous family today."

Iroh and Zuko's eyes widened, as they waited for the townspeople to begin to turn on them. But instead, Jin stepped forward and said, "I thought that royalty was supposed to be well-educated." She said with a laugh as she gestured towards 'Li' and 'Mushi.' "These two are the kindest, most honorable people I have ever met. That alone makes it impossible for them to be related to you. Besides, do you really think that a couple of Firebenders could make their way into Ba Sing Se? If you aren't even smart enough to know that, maybe the other rumors about you are true. Which reminds me, do you really pad your armor…?" Jin paused, then suddenly pointed to her chest. Aang looked on in confusion, but the Knights, Iroh, Zuko, and the crowd began to chuckle, as Azula's face went red, which of course proved them right.

"You missed your brother a while back." Lee's father said, as he moved up. "He came through this town at least a month ago, and we sent him on his way. Sorry to disappoint you, I'm sure you wanted him around to prove to yourself that you're _not_ a man. Not that the armor and need to mindlessly kill things aren't feminine. "

Azula's eyes blazed then, as she snarled like a wild animal. "Oh good, things can start getting interesting." Mai said, as the Fire Princess screamed out, "ATTACK!! LEAVE NO ONE ALIVE!!"

* * *

At that, the Fire Nation troops leapt forward and launched a wave of fire at the crowd. But before it could reach them, a huge wall of earth suddenly rose up. As the fire splattered harmlessly against it, Toph and Tierra suddenly shot it out towards the troops, knocking them back onto the ground and flipping the tanks over. But the soldiers were crafty, and leapt over the tanks, blasting fire as they did so. But their flames were met by a mix of water and sand, extinguishing them. As they landed, their enemies charged. As the Firebenders were attacked, Kinjo pulled his family into a nearby hut.

"Stay here." He said, as he moved back towards the door.

"Daddy, no. I want to help." Jin insisted.

"Me too. You said I should defend myself." Hita argued.

"These are not some kids who picked on you. These are Firebenders!" Kinjo said. "They will kill you without a second thought. They are merciless, savage animals!"

"So we need all the help we can get." A voice said from behind them. Kinjo turned and saw Hierro and Zuko standing there.

"Your son's an Earthbender Kinjo. We could use another one of those." The spider said.

"Absolutely not! He's a child! He's…."

"Barely younger then the Avatar. And he wants to help. And believe me, we Knights will protect him with our lives."

"So will I." Zuko added.

Kinjo began to protest, but before he could, Hita ran up to them and asked, "So what do you need me to do?"

"You get back here…" Kinjo began, but then Aia spoke

"Kinjo, he's going to go whether we tell to or not. He's been trained well; you should be proud to fight with your son."

Kinjo wrestled with that for a moment, and then said, "Fine. But stay close to me or Li."

Hita nodded, just as his sister got up. "I'm coming too." She said

This time, both Kinjo and Zuko said, "NO!" But Jin just said, "What, you'll take a kid, but not me? I went to the Academy Dad, they taught us how to fight."

"That was rudimentary training." Kinjo replied.

"Jin, these are Fire Nation soldiers. They'll destroy you in an instant. Stay here, where it's safe." Zuko insisted

"No. The Fire Nation already forced us from here. Don't make me stand by while they destroy it."

"Actually, I think I can help." Hierro said. "Did they give you any weapons training at this Academy?"

"Staff-fighting."

"Good. I was going to do this for Li, but I think you'll need one too."

With that, the spider placed four of his hands together, palms open. Closing his eyes, he began to concentrate. Slowly, he pulled apart his hand, revealing two long shards of metal stuck between them. As he pulled apart his hands more and more, the meal between them began to grow and take shape. Finally, the spider finished, and held in his hands a long metal staff, and an elegant broadsword. Handing out to Zuko and Jin, he said, "Use them well." Both of them nodded, and with that, the spider turned and headed out the door, drawing his mace. Kinjo and Hita followed a moment later. Jin started to leave, but then felt Zuko's hand on her shoulder. Turning to face him, she said, "Be careful Li."

"You too." Zuko replied softly, and with that, they exited together.

* * *

"Aang duck!" Agua yelled, as two daggers whistled by the young Avatar's head. Aang quickly did so, and sent an air blast at Mai. But the girl was just as agile, and dodged it.

"Don't you try anything new?" Mai asked in a bored tone.

"How's this?" a voice asked suddenly. Before Mai could turn to face it, two chains suddenly shot and wrapped around her wrists. There was an abrupt tug and Mai was suddenly pulled back hard. She soared for a few feet, and then slammed right into a large pillar of _very_ hard earth. She fell to the ground half-unconscious.

Aang turned to see Hierro pull back his chains, and Hita retract his pillar. "Nice job." The Avatar said with a smile. The two of them nodded, but then their eyes widened. Thinking quickly, Aang rolled to the side, just as Azula's fiery blast shot past.

"Nice try." Aang said as he leapt back to his feet. But Azula gave no response, only a second fire-burst. Again, Aang dodged it, but when Azula tried to charge him, she was met by two broadswords.

"I see you still remember your training, brother." Azula said, as she pulled back and faced Zuko and Jin. "And who's this? Your girlfriend? Doesn't she know you spent your life training to kill her people?"

"Leave now, and I won't hurt you." Zuko said bluntly.

"Like you could." Azula taunted, as she reared back and blasted fire at them. But Zuko deflected the attack with his broadswords, as he and Jin pressed on. The young girl fought quite well, as her staff flew this way and that, trying each second to find a target. But Azula was just too quick, and with her fireblasts, much more dangerous. Aang and the Knights tried to help, but the soldiers suddenly became a very big problem. However Zuko's broadswords were proving to be a perfect equalizer to his sister's fire.

Unfortunately, she realized this and was prepared to deal with it. "Why don't you use your firebending, brother? Or have you really sunk to the level of these savages? You were never worthy to be Prince." But Zuko gave no response, other then continuing to attack.

"I just can't believe you went for a helpless peasant." Azula continued, as she effortlessly dodged the attacks. "You actually want to protect this weak little farmer-girl? She isn't even a bender. But I suppose I'll still enjoy burning her face off after I defeat you, again."

That did it. With his eyes blazing, Zuko stabbed hard at his sister, trying to finally put an end to her. But Azula sidestepped the attack and with a sudden burst of firebending, slammed Zuko into a nearby wall, knocking him out. Before Jin could react, Azula had twisted around and wrapped her arm around the girl's neck, positioning her flaming fist very close to her face.

"Now, perhaps you'd be more willing to listen now." Azula said, as Aang and the toerhs finished with the soldiers and turned their attention back to Azula. Hita's face contorted as he looked at his sister, as Aang and the others held their stance.

"Let her go, Azula." Aang said, not taking his eyes off the Princess.

"Or what? You'll blow me away? You try anything and I'll fry her before you can hit me. Or do you really want to risk her life to stop me?" Azula said, as she moved her fist an inch closer to Jin's face. Aang and the others didn't drop their stances, but they didn't attack either.

"Come on now, this isn't that hard." Azula said. "All you have to do is come with me, Avatar. Then this little peasant goes free, and you get to take a trip to the Fire Nation."

"Aang no! You can't sacrifice yourself for me!" Jin said, as she struggled to break Azula's grip.

"Oh he will. He cares too much." Azula said, as she jerked Jin like she would a dog. "But maybe this will teach you to respect your betters."

"Aang, whatever you plan to do, you'd better do it soon." Agua whispered. "We don't have Fuego to shut her off."

"I know." The young Airbender said. He looked out at Jin, remembering how kind and brave she had been in defending them. He remembered how Zuko had looked at her when they were on Appa, and how much the former prince had done for her. He thought about how much Zuko had begun to change since meeting Jin. With that, he made his decision. Moving out of his stance, Aang said………

But it doesn't matter what he said. Because at that moment, Zuko groggily opened his eyes and saw his sister holding Jin. At that moment, Jin noticed him awakening as well, and realized it was time to make her move. With a cry of rage, Jin drove her elbow into Azula's stomach. The Princess gasped in surprise and pain, releasing her grip on Jin. As the girl quickly ran out of the way, Azula felt a hand grab her collar and drag her up. Suddenly, she was face to face with the scarred visage of her brother. But while Azula had always laughed at her brother's disfigurement before, there was nothing to laugh at now. Zuko's face was twisted with a rage so strong, so mindless, so full of hate, that for the first time in her life, Azula was scared stiff.

And that was her mistake. With a mindless roar, Zuko flipped his sword handle down and delivered a vicious uppercut to his sister's face. Grabbing her chin, Azula staggered backwards, as the coppery taste of blood began to fill her mouth. But she had no time to react, as Zuko began to swing his broadswords around in a circle, a circle that began to glow brighter and brighter with each revolution. Finally, Zuko released the energy inside him, and the wave of fire shot forth from his swords, slammed into Azula, and blasted her into a nearby building.

As he watched his sister careen off, Zuko lowered his swords, the steam still rising from them. Slowly, he began to regain control of himself, regaining his calm. But as he grew more and more calm, Zuko began to realize what he had just done. But it was not the sight of the wreckage from Azula's crash that made him realize this. It was not the looks of concern and worry from the others. It was the sharp intake of breath, the staring eyes from Jin that made him see. Zuko's mind was a mess of confusion, as he turned to her and tried to think what he could say to explain this. He reached out to her, tried to bring her close, to make her see. But she pulled away from him, her eyes filled with fear and confusion. As Zuko's own eyes began to fill with pain, he started to speak, to try to make her understand, but before he could even speak, the voices began to call out.

"It's Zuko! That girl was telling the truth!"  
"But how? He didn't look like that when they came here."

"It's some Firebender trick!"

"Get the old man too! They'll hand us over if we don't!"

The townspeople began to crowd around then, trying to trap the enemies in their panic. As the panic filled them, the townspeople began to fight with tooth and nail, wanting to preserve what little life they had left here.

A Fire Nation soldier felt his helmet torn off, as sharp fingernails raked a bloody map in his face. Another watched as a pitchfork suddenly shot through the chest of his comrade. Iroh watched this with grim horror, then was forced to deal with the townsfolk surrounding him. Aang, Agua, and Hierro were suddenly forced to protect Zuko.

But through it all, there was one person who remained calm as she watched the panicking scene. Mai shook of the last of the attack and looked upon the madness with a detached look. Then she saw something that caught her attention. The Earth Sage had turned his attention towards Ty Lee, and the old man was good. He apparently knew enough about Ty Lee's skill to keep her at a distance, sending up a maze of rocks and boulders to throw off her leaps. But to Mai, he presented a target that she could easily hit. Reaching into her sleeve, Mai pulled out a long dagger, her personal favorite, and began to line it up with the Sage's heart. Within seconds, Mai was ready to aim. But as she pulled her arm back, Mai neglected to notice the young boy standing near her. She neglected to notice as Hita swiftly brought up a rock and sent it flying into her arm, just as she hurled the dagger. Mai cried out in pain, as the rock slammed into her arm. But she grimaced even more, as she saw her dagger fly out in the wrong path and miss the Sage.

But it did hit something. The Earth Sage suddenly stopped and looked down as the sound of metal penetrating metal could be hard. Looking down, the Sage's face went into a mask of terror as he saw Mai's dagger sticking out of the _Ra-ketah. _Horror-stricken, he dropped it on the ground and began to back away, as it began to shake and shudder. Slowly, everyone stopped fighting and looked at the _Ra-ketah,_ as it twisted and changed, it's golden covering peeling away as it lost its ball-shape. Even Azula, as she pulled herself out of the wreckage of the house, stared in a rapt fascination.

But that ended a split second later, as the orb suddenly exploded in a burst of energy that shot up to the heavens. The sky turned black, as dark clouds began to fill the air. The winds began to blow, harder and harder, as everyone watched.

"What the hell is going on?" Kinjo yelled, over the roaring winds.

"I don't know, but I don't think we should try to find out!" Iroh yelled back. "Everyone needs to get out of here!"

"He's right!" Oscuridad yelled. "Everybody, leave the village! Get as far from here as you can!"

"We'll try to stop this!" Aang cried out as well.

Hearing those words of reassurance from the Avatar and the leader of the Knights, the townspeople, who were already quite racked with fear, began to run. Kinjo and his family stayed, making sure that everyone got out safely. The Firebenders made no move to stop them, but let them pass, as they stared at the skies in wonder.

"This is certainly interesting." Mai said, as she looked at the skies.

"I don't like this." Ty Lee said, as she actually began to whimper. "It's aura…. It's all wrong."

"I'm sure that's something to be worried about." Tierra said. "But I'm more concerned about what the hell it is."

But the dog got his answer a second later, when suddenly the energy pulsed and twisted, then there was an explosion of light. Everyone was forced to shield their eyes, but when it faded, the beam of energy was gone. In its place, was a….. hole. It literally looked like an empty blackness in the air that hung there as if waiting for something. Suddenly, the winds began to pick up again, blowing harder then anyone could stand, harder then Aang or Aire could control.

"Everybody grab hold of something!" Fuego yelled, as he felt the winds begin to pull him towards the hole. Almost instantly, Toph and Tierra brought up the earth around everyone's feet, even the Firebenders, locking them in place. As they stood there, attached to the ground, Fuego yelled, "Is this thing what I think it is?"

"Oh, you bet it is!" Oscuridad yelled back.

"Gee, do you think you could inform the rest of us?" Toph screamed.

"It's a portal! I don't know how, but that thing was something holding a dimensional portal!"

"A what?" Zuko asked.

"A hole in the fabric that separates the worlds." The bat explained. "If we get sucked in, we could be sent to any world, with no way to get home."

"Well, then how do we shut it off?" Sokka yelled.

"I have no idea!" the bat yelled back, as the portal raged above them.


	10. Change of Boroughs

Chap. 10

Change of Boroughs

As the portal began to suck everything into it, the group struggled to hold on. But despite their own efforts, plus Toph and Tierra's earthbending, they could feel the pull of the portal increase.

"Does anybody have an idea here?" Bosque yelled, as a house next to him was sucked up, board by board, into the portal.

"The orb thing! Maybe we can use it!" Katara cried. "Where is it?"

"Over here!" another voice yelled. Everyone turned to see Mai holding a piece of the orb, while Jin held up another.

"There's some kind of writing on it! I can't read it!" Mai called out, realizing that this was going to destroy all of them if they didn't act.

"Send it to me!" Fuego yelled. "I can translate!"

Mai nodded, and tossed her piece into the air. As it began to swirl around in the winds, Aang and Aire used what little control they had to guide the piece over to Fuego. The red man caught it, then looked to Jin to toss him hers.

Jin nodded and started to toss it, only to suddenly have to dodge a blast of blue flame. Looking over in shock, she saw Azula standing behind her, locked into an attack stance.

"Azula, what are you doing?!" Mai yelled. "Let them shut this thing off!"

But the Fire Princess took no notice, and shot again. Jin ducked down to dodge it, but in that split second, Azula fired a second burst, at the earth surrounding the girl's feet. It broke apart instantly, and Jin was drawn up by the winds of the portal. Screaming in horror, she felt herself being pulled towards it, only to have a hand wrap around her leg just before she reached it. Sokka grimaced and held on, as the winds dragged at Jin. But what was worse was knowing that he now had no way to protect himself from Azula.

And she knew it too. Smiling evilly, Azula began to draw the lightning to her, ready to shoot her brother's little girlfriend into the portal. But as she prepared to aim, she realized that there was no clear shot at her without hitting Sokka. Normally, this wouldn't have mattered, but Azula remembered all too well Sokka's endurance of her torture aboard the ship. It was something that had left a very deep impact on the sheltered Fire Princess, and as she looked on, she found herself lowering her hand, extinguishing the lighting inside her.

But none of that really mattered a second later, as a huge rumbling sound filled the air. Everyone turned to see one of the huge Fire Nation tanks flying through the air towards them. Under the stress of the winds, the tank was being pulled apart, and pieces flew everywhere. Before Toph or Tierra could move to defend themselves, they were struck by the debris, not hard enough to knock them out, but hard enough to break their concentration on the earth. The earth around everyone's feet suddenly broke apart, and the winds of the portal began to drag them in. Kinjo managed to save himself and his family by grabbing onto the awning of one of the remaining houses and grabbing Aia and Hita as they flew past. But the others were not that lucky. One by one, the Knights, Avatar gang, Firebenders, and Jin were sucked inside the portal, and sent on a journey to somewhere in the endless universe.

* * *

As they flew through the portal, they felt themselves being pulled around as if they were inside a tornado. Lights flashed around them, as images of worlds and things they couldn't understand darted around them. With the madness of motion, image, and sound all around them, they wondered if they would leave this place with their sanity intact. That notion grew a moment later when a huge pair of eyes opened in front of them. These eyes stared at them with a look of predatory evil. But then there was another flash of light, and a feeling of falling……

* * *

Finally, the madness of the portal vanished, and the group found themselves falling towards the ground. Well, almost all of them. Tierra, Sokka, and Hierro found themselves heading towards a large metal container, filled with the worst smelling trash that they had ever smelt. They fell into it with a bang, as the others landed on the hard ground around it. There was much groaning and utterance of pain, but after a few minutes, they managed to pull themselves back up.

"Why do I always land in garbage when that happens?" Tierra muttered, as he dragged himself up from the container. Behind him, Sokka pulled wet paper and a strange yellow fruit peel from his head.

"Where are we?" Katara asked, as she looked around their surroundings. The group seemed to be in a large alleyway, that appeared to open up into a street. As Katara continued to observe, she noticed strange drawings on the walls, paintings of twisted figures and words in garish colors. "And are these people sane?" she whispered to herself.

"I'm not sure where we are," Zuko said. "But we seem to be short by a few Firebenders. Azula and her friends aren't here."

"Are you sure?" Sokka asked. "Where else would they go?"

"It could be anywhere." Hierro answered, as he leapt out of the trash. "Dimensional portals like that are always unstable. They could've been sent to another location here, or they might've been bounced to another dimension entirely."

"It's more likely they're here." Agua said. "It's too coincidental that we all got sent here but they didn't."

"Even so, it doesn't really matter now." Aang said. "If they are here, Azula will make herself known soon enough."

"Aang's right." Iroh said, as he helped Luz to her feet. "Right now, we have to figure out where we are, and how we can get back home."

"What about the _Ra-ketah?" _Jin suggested, as she got up near two round metal containers. "It might have some clues."

"Good idea." Fuego said. Reaching into the hidden pocket of his cape, the red man withdrew his fragment of the orb, as Jin handed him hers. Looking over them carefully, the red man squinted, and finally said, "I can make out some writing on them. It's an old Earth Kingdom language."

"What does it say?" Toph asked.

"_He who opens the orb beware, for inside is a door to neither here nor there. Through that door you shall fly, until the sun has flown across the sky. It returns you then, from whence you came, but then fear your greatest bane."_

"Nice verse." Bosque said, as the red man finished. "But what does it mean?" Just as he finished that question, the two pieces began to glow once again. Gasping in surprise, Fuego dropped the pieces and backed away, fearful of another portal opening. But instead, the two halves melted on the ground, and then merged back together. As everyone watched in amazement, the glowing pieces began to change and alter into a new shape, one that was long and slender. Finally, the new shape stopped glowing and solidified into a strange black band, with an object stuck in the middle.

"What is that?" Sokka asked, as he moved to get a closer look.

"It's called a watch." Fuego said, as he picked it up. Indeed, the _Ra-ketah _had reformed itself into a slender, black, digital watch. As Fuego brought it closer, he noticed that the clock was set at 24:00. Just as he noticed that, there was a beep, and the clock began to run down.

"What's it doing?" Katara asked.

"It's counting down from twenty-four hours." Oscuridad replied. "Or as you guys know time, twenty-four candle-bursts, the length of a full day. That must be what the inscription meant. 'When the sun flies across the sky' is the passage of a whole day. So this time tomorrow, the watch will reopen the portal and we'll go back."

"But what's this 'greatest bane?' And how do we know the watch will do anything?" Desierto asked, as Fuego strapped the watch onto his wrist.

"The inscription seems to hint that it will. As for the bane we'll worry about that later." The bat replied. "What we need to do now, is figure out where the hell we are now, and how to survive until we get sent back."

"Well, we're not gonna do it here." Sokka said, rising to his feet. "I'll look out the end of the alley, see what kind of world we're in."

"Sokka, that's too dangerous." Katara cautioned. "At least take someone with you."

"I'll go." Jin said. "I want to see this 'new world' myself." Zuko started to say something, but Jin just looked at him, and he grew silent. "Come on Sokka." Jin said, as she grabbed the Water-Tribesman and dragged him to the end of the alleyway. Iroh watched this and then put his hand on his nephew's shoulder. "Give her time." The old general said. "She just needs to take it all in."

"That everything I told her was a lie?" Zuko answered sadly.

"But a one you had to tell to stay alive. And the fact you regret having to do it says volumes Zuko. Jin will see that eventually."

Zuko nodded, but as he looked back down at the ground, he wondered how true his uncle's words really were.

* * *

"All right, I'm coming. Let go already!" Sokka snapped, as he finally broke free of Jin's grasp. "What's your hurry, anyway?"

"Sorry, but I-I want to see this place." Jin said quickly, as she kept walking forward. But Sokka was smart enough to get what was wrong. "Look, running away from Zuko isn't going to make him go away."

"What are you talking about?" Jin snapped. "I'm not running away from him. He lied to me, and you helped him. That stupid lie about him being your brother."

"No, he is my brother." Sokka said. "And what did you expect him to do? Tell you he was the Prince of the Fire Nation? And I stress _was_. Aren't you even thinking of that?"

But Jin had, for the moment, lost all interest in her issue with Zuko. She stared ahead, her mouth open at the sights that lay before her. After a few moments of pointless yelling, Sokka saw it too, and gaped in shock. In front of them was a mass of people, dressed in the strangest clothes the two of them had ever seen. But what was even stranger then that was the huge, metal buildings that towered in front of them. The metal glistened with the reflections of the sun, as the noises of the street echoes all around them. Staring in gape-jawed amazement, the two of them moved forward, as the people around them began to take notice. A few of them stared at Sokka and Jin's clothing, and began to mutter, "Tourists." But both of them were too amazed by the city to notice, as they continued to walk forward.

However, they were so amazed by what they were seeing that they neglected to see what was right next to them. Suddenly, a piercing siren filled the air; Sokka and Jin turned just in time to see a huge metal thing come hurtling towards them. Crying out in terror, they tried to move to avoid it, but then another one appeared to their side. They quickly moved to dodge that one as well, only to realize that they were totally surrounded by these things. However, they did notice that there were spaces between them, which they immediately used to run back to the alleyway.

* * *

"Oh Lord, what happened?" Fuego said, as he saw Sokka and Jin come running back, utterly terrified. The others quickly stopped what they were doing and moved over to meet them. But as Aire followed, he suddenly realized something about the container of trash he'd fallen into. Stopping in front of it, he began to look it over as the others met Sokka and Jin.

"Guys, calm down. What happened?" Oscuridad said, as Sokka and Jin caught their breath.

"MONSTERS!!" Sokka replied.

"What do you mean monsters?" Aang asked

"Uh guys?" Aire said, looking down at the large trash container.

"They were these big, metal…. Things!" Sokka cried out. "They were speeding past us and roaring like angry lion-bears!"

"Guys?"

"We were lucky to escape with our lives." Jin said. "What kind of horrible world is this?"

"GUYS!" Aire yelled, causing everyone to finally turn around.

"Bro, they're trying to tell us about this world. Can you please shut for five minutes?" Tierra snapped.

"We don't need to hear their story. I already know where we are." The falcon said simply.

"You mean you know what things out there are? How?" Sokka asked.

"This right here." Aire said, pointing to an inscription on the side of the metal container he'd fallen into. Everyone turned and looked at it intently. The strange writing they saw quickly puzzled the Avatar gang. But the Knights understood it instantly.

"Fuego, what language is this?" Aang finally asked. "I don't recognize any of these characters."

"Oh I can tell you what it says." Aire replied. "It says, 'Property of NYC Sanitation Department.'"

"What's a Sanitation Department?" Toph asked. "And what's NYC?" But instead of giving an answer, the Knights turned to each other in shock and amazement.

"I don't believe it." Oscuridad said in shock. "Of all the worlds, we came _here_? I mean what are the odds?"

"I can't believe it either." Agua said. "But I suppose we should be thankful it's a world we know well, instead of some new one."

"Will you forget about that, and tell us what to do about the monsters?" Sokka yelled.

"Did one of these monsters have a black-and-white checkerboard pattern over a yellow body?" the bat asked suddenly.

"How did you know that?" Jin asked in amazement.

"Those things aren't monsters, they're called cars. That one is what's known as a taxi. If you stay out of the street, they won't hurt you. Unless the guy driving them is crazy."

"You guys _do_ know where we are. Tell us." Zuko said urgently.

"To answer that and part of Toph's question, we're in NYC, which stands for New York City." Tierra said. "Which means things have changed quite a bit. We're not in your world anymore; you guys are in _ours._"


	11. Back in the USA

Chap. 11

Back in the USA

"_Your world?" _everyone cried out in shock.

"Yes. This is the dimension that we originally came from." Oscuridad said calmly. "And frankly, this is a good thing. We could've ended up in some strange place with no idea of how to survive. But instead, we're in a place that we know like the back of our hands."

"Especially me." Tierra said with a bit of pride. "I actually lived here for a few years, when the Architects split us up to learn about the ways of man."

"He did quite well too." Aire added. "After all, this was probably the only city on earth with enough weirdness in it to make him seem normal."

Tierra growled at that, but before it could go any further, Iroh said, "If that's the case, then you should tell us anything that we need to know, so that we can blend in here."

Tierra nodded, and began to explain. "Well first off, this city is made up of five different boroughs, Queens, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and the Bronx. We'll find out which on we're in later. The city itself is located in New York State, which is a region of the country known as the United States of America. It's basically fifty different territories that function together as one coherent country."

"So who rules over this country? Maybe their king can help us." Jin suggested.

"Don't bet on it. This country doesn't have a king. They have a government that allows the people to elect a leader, or 'president.'"

"What?! You mean there's no royalty? But how can a ruler be selected this way?" Zuko asked in disbelief, having grown up in a monarchy. The others were fairly surprised as well, since they had similiar ruling classes in their own cultures.

"That's how the government works, Zuko. 'By the people, for the people.' The leaders campaign for their positions and the people elect by majority. It's too big to explain now. But trust me, the president couldn't help us. One, he lives about four states down in a big guarded house. Second, he'd think we were crazy, since we're talking about something we have no way to prove without a lot of difficult explanations that would probably land us in a lab somewhere. Third, we'd have to explain the Avatar, bending and dimensional physics, and politicians aren't usually the most intelligent lot..."

"Um, Tierra I think you just killed democracy for everybody." Fuego said, as the groups' faces took on identical looks of amazement towards a ruler who could disbelieve something that was so commonplace to them (well, except the dimensions part).

"Look guys, all that stuff isn't really going to affect you right now." Oscuirdad said. "But here are the things that will. First, we're going to have to get you some different clothes, because right now you stick out like sore thumbs."

"How? Our money can't be good here." Katara said.

"True, but we can take care of that. Still, it's a bad idea to separate right now, so you'll all be coming with us. Thankfully this city is weird enough so that you shouldn't be noticed too much. But if anyone asks, you are a troupe of Chinese acrobats, and we are your American valets. You are learning English and therefore don't understand everything that is said to you. That way, if someone talks to you, you won't sound like compete idiots."

"Oh good, another circus story. That should be easy for you." Jin said to Zuko, rather coldly. Zuko grimaced and said, "Jin, I'm sorry. I didn't want to lie to you, but I didn't have a choice."

"Right. Because the fact I trusted you meant nothing at all." Jin replied.

"A-_hem!" _the bat coughed loudly. "I know you two have a lot to discuss, but can you have your little spat later? There's one more thing I have to tell you, and it is _extremely _important."

"Sorry." Zuko and Jin both said, as they turned their attention back to the bat. Clearing his throat, Oscuirdad continued.

"Now, there is one crucial difference between this world and yours that you all have to understand. Your world is a world of magic, which is how bending is possible. This world is a world of science. People put their faith in what they build with their own two hands, not in what they can feel with the elements. Because of that, people here do not bend. But more importantly, because they put so much faith and belief into what they can make themselves, they fear what they don't understand. So listen very closely to this: under no circumstances do any of you bend while you are here."

"Sounds fine to me." Sokka said.

"Oh yeah, big sacrifice for you. Come on, these people can't be that paranoid." Toph argued. "How am I supposed to get around with out bending?"

"Toph, I didn't mean for you to shut it off completely. No one can notice it when you 'see', so you don't have to worry about that. What I want is for you guys not to cause an earthquake, or a hurricane, or a tidal wave, or shoot fire out of your hands. If you do, these people are likely to panic, call an organization called the FBI, who will take you to a place called Area 51, where they will experiment on you to figure out how you bend and how they can duplicate the effect in others. Is everybody clear on that?"

Everyone nodded _very_ hard, as Oscuridad had put just the right amount of emphasis in his voice. "Good." The bat replied. "Now then, we need to find a place where we can get money, and then somewhere to buy clothes. After that, we can try to figure out our next move. Let's go."

The bat turned and started to walk out the alley, only to hear Aang say, "You're breaking your own rule, you know."

"Huh?" Oscuridad asked, as he turned around. Smiling, the Avatar pointed to his clothes, then pointed to Oscuridad. The bat looked down at his ragged clothes, cape, gauntlets, and boots, and smiled himself. "Guess I got carried away, didn't I?" he said.

"Don't worry, I'm sure we can think up a good back story for you." Sokka said. "Maybe you're part of the circus too. The animal freakshow."

"Don't bet on it." The bat answered. Suddenly, the shadowfire whirled over Oscuridad, covering his entire body. Underneath it, his clothes began to change, to alter and grow. Finally, the shadowfire vanished, revealing that bat dressed in strange blues pants, red-and-white shoes, a white shirt, and a long black trenchcoat. His sword was still sheathed to his back though; the strap ran over the coat and under his arm.

"Nice, isn't it?" Oscuridad said, as he held out his arms to allow everyone a better view.

"Um, how did you do that?" Sokka asked.

"Like this." Agua said, as water began to surround him and alter his clothes. One by one, the other Knights repeated the process with their own elements, until all of them stood in altered clothes, thought their weapons remained intact. Most were similar to Oscuridad, with identical pants and shoes, minus the trench coat. But a few of them wore long shirts with many different colors. Fuego had kept his hat, which was now smaller and dead black along with a brown leather jacket. Luz was the most different; she wore a sleeveless, low-cut black shirt with large white letters written over it, and a ragged black skirt with black boots.

"That's acceptable here?" Iroh said in surprise as he pointed at Luz.

"It's a style called punk. Believe me, this isn't that bad." The fox replied. "Don't worry, you won't have to dress this way if you don't want to. There are plenty of styles of clothing stores to choose from."

"Wait, you mean we're still getting clothes from stores?" Sokka asked. "Why don't you just change our clothes like you did yours?"

"Unfortunately, if I tried that on you, all you'd get would be third-degree burns." Fuego replied. "Our clothes are enhanced with Elemental magic, and they change when we need them to. Hell, we're enhanced that way too."

"Before we started out, Rastla, the Shadow Architect, blessed us with a small amount of shadow." Hierro explained. "It allows to surround ourselves with illusion and change how people perceive us. It's the only reason we've been able to blend in with humans for so long."

"So that's why Fuego looked like a Royal Guard when we first met." Zuko said.

"Exactly. But since that can't work with you, I think we'd better hide anything that makes you stick out too much. Staffs and broadswords please."

Nodding, Aang and Zuko relinquished their weapons to the spider, who in turn passed them to Oscuridad. Holding them in his hands, the bat willed the shadows to wrap themselves over the weapons. After a moment, he dissipated the shadow, revealing nothing in his hands. "Don't worry guys, I just sent them into the shadows; I can call them back later." The bat said, noticing the shocked looks on his friends' faces.

"Now then, who wants to see New York?" Tierra asked, as he gestured out to the city.

* * *

The group walked out of the alleyway slowly, nervous about the sights that lay before them. The only ones that moved normally were the Knights, for whom none of this was new and Toph, who didn't see anything new or old. But for those who could, it was a sight that they would take to their graves. Huge, gleaming buildings that stretched to the heavens. Metal vehicles that moved through the streets of their own power. And people, Lord almighty, people! The crowds around them were vast, and of the most varied kind they had ever seen.

"Hey look at that guy!" Aang said, instantly pointing to a man in a suit walking down the sidewalk. As he passed them, he said aloud, seemingly to no one, "Uh-huh. Yeah. No, don't sell to him! Dammit Mary, how many times do I have to bail you out?" He continued this rant as he walked past them. Aang quickly moved his finger back down and looked away, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. But the man took no notice and continued to walk.

"Are there invisible people in this world?" Sokka asked once the man was out of range.

"No, he was talking to a real person." Agua answered.

"What, real in his mind?" Sokka asked.

"No, just a person that isn't here. He was talking on what's called a 'hands-free phone.' It's a small device that fits in your ear, and lets you talk to people over great distance."

"You know, I may be somewhat inexperienced concerning personal appearance." Toph said. "But that guy even sounded like he was crazy! Would it make more sense to make something like that more obvious?"

"They used to be." Tierra said. "But people said they were too bulky, and things just kept changing until, well, this."

"So people walking around looking like they're out of their minds?" Katara asked in astonishment. "Well, this world's definitely amazing so far."

"I think it's about to get more amazing." Iroh said, pointing to something to the side. Katara quickly looked over and gasped in astonishment, the others quickly echoing her look. A block away was the most dazzling plethora of images any of them had ever seen. Lights danced all around, signs towered over them, and in some cases, the signs and lights were combined, into blazing, moving spectacles that were stunning to the eye.

"What…. Is this place?" Jin asked in wonder, as she stared at all the sights before them. Considering her amazement, the response she received was rather muted.

"Oh good, Times Square. That means we're in Manhattan." Oscuridad said. "It ought to be easy to figure out where to now."

"Tier, you're the expert. Where should we go?" Fuego asked. The dog looked around a moment, trying to remember the way to what they needed. Finally, he said, "There's a pawn shop a few blocks from here, on West 45th. And there's a GAP across the street from it. The usual craziness of city building placement."

"Sounds good to me." Oscuridad said. "Lead the way." Tierra nodded, and began walking in the direction of the street, the others in tow. As they walked along the sidewalk, Tierra began to talk about Times Square, sounding very much like a tour guide.

"Times Square is one of the most famous landmarks in the city." The dog said as they walked. "It stretches for five blocks, and is home to some of the most amazing stores and billboards in the world."

"Billboards?" Sokka asked.

"Those signs you saw when we came in." Tierra replied, as they came to the end of the block. Stopping at the end, the dog held out his right arm to catch Toph before she walked ahead into the street, as the others stopped of their own accord. "Wait for the light." He chided, as he pointed to the car-filled intersection in front of them. He then pointed to a small metal box on an opposing pole that depicted a red hand. After a few moments, the hand changed to a green person walking, the cars stopped, and the crowds began to move across the streets.

"The billboards are basically giant announcements of intent." Tierra explained, returning to his lecture without missing a beat. "Different companies put them up in an attempt to get people to buy the things they sell."

"Like a crier at a market." Jin said.

"Exactly. And the bigger and more memorable the sign, the more chance people will buy the product." Tierra said. But before he could continue, Zuko suddenly stopped, eyes wide, and asked, "So what is that guy advertising?"

Following the former prince's gaze, Tierra looked, gasped, and said, "Oh Jesus, he's still here?"

"Who is?" Katara asked, as she started to look over. But before she could look, Agua clapped his hands over her eyes. "Believe me Katara, you don't need to see this." He said, as Trueno covered Jin's.

"But it sounds like somebody singing." Katara argued.

"Yes, but he isn't wearing any pants…. Or anything else." The cat said.

"This would be the legend known as the Naked Cowboy." Tierra said, grimacing as everyone else averted his or her gaze. "He showed up a few years ago, and sings and plays guitar in his underwear almost every day, for reasons known only to him. Now, let's all keep averting our gaze and walking away until the nakedness is just a very disturbing memory."


	12. The GAP

Chap. 12

The GAP

"Toph, hold on." Bosque said with a sigh, as he grabbed the young Earhbender's collar and pulled her back from the street, just like he had for the last four blocks. Since Toph couldn't see in front of her, the young girl had trouble figuring out where the end of the block was, and where the busy streets began. She wasn't bothered by it though, and refused any help from the others even though it was in her best interest. They weren't surprised by it, as Toph had always put a strong value on her independence, but the idea of having to stop her at the end of every block in the city was not very appealing to them.

"Come on, I'm sick of stopping every five minutes." Toph said, as the squirrel dragged her back. "Do you really think that these people won't stop their….."

"Cars." Bosque said.

"Right, cars, for a kid walking in the street?"

"Oh they'd try to, but people can't always stop in time." Desierto answered. "And if that happened, I have this sinking feeling that you might cause a little earthquake to save yourself."

"And that's a problem?"

"Toph, we're not trying to draw attention to ourselves." Katara admonished. "We can't bend, and walking the street with these things speeding around is going to cause problems no matter what. You need to think of your own safety as well as the group's and just try to blend in."

"Yeah, cause we need all the help we can get." Sokka said, as he tried to ignore the people staring at him. There had been a small crowd at each traffic light (no small surprise for any city) and while most of the people had ignored them, the Avatar Gang's clothing had drawn _some _attention. Sokka grimaced as he remembered the little kid who had asked him, very loudly, what anime character he was supposed to be. Trueno had been able to get the kid away, but Sokka's ears were still ringing. _And what was that thing on his shirt? _Sokka wondered. _Is that what anime is? Some big guy with flaming gold hair, bending down and screaming like he's taking the biggest dump in the world? And that big metal man- thing on the back that had light shining from it like it was a god? Thank God I'm not an anime character!_

"Hey man, I gotta ask, where'd you get that suit?" a voice asked suddenly. Sokka turned and saw a tall, dark-skinned man, dressed in jeans and a sleeveless blue and orange numbered shirt looking down at him.

"Uh, I got it back home in…… Chinese." Sokka said, trying to stick to the story the Knights had come up with.

"Uh, you mean China?" the man asked in amusement. Sokka quickly nodded, trying to play along.

"Still learning English, I take it?" the man asked again.

"Yeah, it isn't easy."

"Don't worry, you sound pretty good to me. Not even an accent on ya. What brings you to the big city anyway?"

"I'm part of this acrobat troupe with these guys." Sokka answered, gesturing to the others, who quickly nodded their agreement. "It's our first time here though, and we still need to get some appropriate clothes. Our valets are taking us to the GAP for them." Sokka said.

"Well you're close to it at least." The man said, gesturing to the building on the other side of the street that said GAP across it in big letters. "So where are you guys supposed to perform?"

"Um, we're performing…. In…" Sokka stalled, trying to think up any location that the Knights might have mentioned. Finally, one came to mind and he spurted out, "Brooklyn."

"And you guys are going to the GAP for clothes?" the man said in amazement. "Look, lemme show you at least one thing in case you run into any brothers over there. Gimme your hand."

Curious, Sokka put out his hand, which the man took and reshaped into a fist. As Sokka watched, the man then lightly brought his own fist down onto Sokka's. Putting his hand on Sokka's arm, the man led Sokka through a strange and complicated handshake that involved tapping, grasping, and several other variations on the basic handshake. But Sokka watched carefully and after been guided through it once, he was able to duplicate the movements on his own the next time.

"Nice! Guess Asians have more rhythm then I thought." The man said with a laugh as the light changed. "Just remember that, and you'll do fine if there are any brothers where you perform. Later." The man said as he walked off.

"Uh, thanks." Sokka said, as he looked at his hand in slight curiosity. Shrugging it off, he followed the others across the street, while Bosque and Hierro headed down the street to find the pawnshop and subsequently, money.

"Interesting custom." Iroh said, as he caught up with the boy. "I wonder what it means?"

"Sorry, trademarked secret." Trueno replied. "But you did pretty good Sokka. A lotta white guys can't do that."

"We'll talk more later." The ram said, as the group came to the doors of the GAP. Oscuridad walked to the doors first and as he came close to them, they opened up of their own accord and he walked inside. The Knights followed suit, except for Desierto, who stopped just as the doors shut behind him. Turning around slowly, the wolf saw the rest of the gang standing outside, looking at the doors and obviously wondering how they worked. Stretching out his hand, Desierto beckoned for them to come closer. They did so, until Aang was right at the door. Once he was close enough, Desierto reached out and as the doors parted for his hand, he grabbed the young Avatar and pulled him inside. Using his other hand to hold the door open, he said, "Come on guys, they're not going to hurt you. Just walk towards them and they'll open. Now come on, before I drag somebody in through the glass." With motivation like that, the group had no problem getting inside.

* * *

Once inside the store, the reactions were rather varied. Katara and Jin's reactions were pretty much slightly different versions of this;

(Happy, excited voice)"Oh my God, I've never seen so many clothes in one place before. Come on we've gotta get started (followed by running off towards most exciting looking clothing)!

As for the boys and Toph, it was more like this;

(Extreme sarcasm and disappointment) "Oh great, this'll be just like when the monks/Gran-Gran/the palace attendants/my parents dragged me to the cloth merchant. Oh, most joyous of all days."

"Come now, it won't be that bad." Iroh said. "After all, you have been wearing the same clothes for a long time now. A little variety is good for you in all aspects of life."

"Uncle, you realize it is kind of hard to get excited about clothes." Zuko said.

"Besides, it's kind of hard to enjoy variety when you can't see it." Toph added.

"True, but think of it this way. This is a chance for you to pick out what you and you alone like. I am sure that must appeal to you and Zuko, Toph."

The old general seemed to have struck a point there, as Toph thought for a moment, then began to smile and said, "All right, let's go do this. And we're staying away from dresses."

"Great. I'll help you find Jin and Katara and we can all work from there. After all, I still more about fashion in this world then you guys." Luz said, as she moved forward and took Toph's hand. As the two of them walked off, Agua asked, "So, any ideas what you guys might like?"

* * *

A while later, Aang and Iroh were off with Oscuirdad and a few of the Knights, getting opinions on his fashion sense, while Zuko and Sokka where making their way through the store on their own. Neither of them had wanted to have the Knights pick out their clothes, so they had opted to walk through the store and find their own clothes. The Knights had agreed to this, as long as the boys came back with any clothes they'd selected. But now Zuko and Sokka were starting to regret their decision, as they had no idea of where to begin looking for clothes and had gotten rather lost.

"I knew this was a bad idea." Zuko muttered as Sokka led them through another corridor of clothes.

"Oh come on, it could be worse." Sokka said.

"We're lost in a large clothing store in another world. How can it be worse?" Zuko snapped.

"Don't complain too much, I think we might've just found something we can use." Sokka said, as he gestured towards a display of shirts and pants.

"Hmm. Maybe this was a good idea." Zuko said. The clothes looked fairly interesting, with designs of dark red and blue sketched all over them. "At least they seem appropriate." The former prince said.

"So let's see what we can find." Sokka said, as he started looking through the clothes. Zuko nodded and started to look as well. After about twenty minutes, the two brothers had managed to find a pair of acceptable outfits.

"Now all we have to do is make sure they're acceptable for the outside." Zuko said, as he picked up his pile. But as he turned to leave, he noticed Sokka looking at something else on the table.

"What is it now?" Zuko asked, impatient to get his new clothes checked out.

"I'm not sure." Sokka said, as he put down his pile and pulled something up from the pile. Zuko saw that it was a strange, flimsy cloth…. Thing. It was made of very delicate looking fabric, with two large 'cup' sections.

"I think it might be a weapon or something." Sokka said after a moment of thought.

"We're in a clothing store. Why would there be a weapon here?" Zuko asked.

"Well look at it. It's probably some kind of double slingshot. I mean, you could easily spin it around, and it looks like it can hold a lot of ammo."

"Sokka, I really doubt that." Zuko argued back.

But before they could make any kind of decision as to what the strange thing was, a voice said, "Uh, what are you guys doing?" Both boys turned around to see Luz standing there, looking at them with a strange expression on her face.

"Oh hey, we're just looking around. What are you doing here?" Sokka said, quickly dropping the device and grabbing his pile of clothes again, as Zuko quickly did the same.

"The same thing as you." The fox said. "But um, why are you doing it here?"

"What do you mean? There are decent clothes here." Zuko said.

"Oh man, I wish you guys understood written English." Luz muttered to herself. "Do you know what that says?" she asked, pointing to the large sign above her head.

"No."

"It say's "Women's Department."

For a split second, the two boys looked on in confusion, then they looked down at the clothes they'd selected, noticed the sparkling designs, the size of the clothes, the curves of the pants, and threw the clothes down in horror.

"Oh thank Darya we didn't try them on." Zuko swore, as he frantically wiped his hands on his shirt.

"But I don't understand." Sokka said. "If this is the women's section, then why is this sling here?" he asked, bringing up the cloth thing.

Seeing it, Luz stared at the two boys for a long, _long, _moment, and finally said, "Sokka, that's called a bra. It's ladies' underwear."

"_Dyahhh!" _Sokkka screamed as he dropped the bra and frantically began to wipe his hands as well. "How can they just leave these things lying around?" he said.

"Oh knock it off. It isn't like somebody wore it." Luz snapped. "Look, why don't I just tell you two where to look before you get mistaken for cross-dressers?"

Both boys nodded, and the fox said, "Go make a left at that big sign there and keep going. You should find a more appropriate section in a few minutes."

The boys quickly took off, while Luz watched and smiled. "Thank God we weren't shopping for tampons." She said, as she got back to her own search. As the fox looked over at the table next to her, she looked over it's stock before finally finding the right size and color of sock. "Now if she'll just wear them." Luz sighed, as she started to make her way back to the other girls. They'd been able to pick some good outfits, but then they had run into a rather large problem. Actually it wasn't that big, but it was growing fast. Compared to that, Sokka and Zuko's problem was nothing……

* * *

"I told you, I'm not doing it!" Toph snapped again, as Luz returned to the changing room, Jin and Katara standing to the sides.

"Still no good?" the fox asked.

"She is dead set against it." Katara answered, holding her own clothes in one hand. "Are you really sure she needs these things?" she asked, holding up the sneakers in one hand.

"Absolutely. This isn't like the Earth Kingdom or even Ba Sing Se." The fox answered. "The streets are filled with heaven knows how much trash and germs. If Toph goes around barefoot, I don't know how badly she could get infected if her feet get cut. Besides, even in New York, no one walks around barefoot."

"I don't care!" Toph yelled from inside the changing room. After Luz had carefully and gently told the girl that she would need shoes in the city, Toph had responded back quite vehemently and since then had refused to leave the room.

"I've been walking barefoot since I joined up with you guys. I've walked through forests, mountains, and who knows what else and I've never gotten sick from it. So you can forget those stupid shoes!"

As Toph went back to her silent defiance inside the room, Jin said, "Wow. I knew Earthbenders went barefoot to get a better connection with the Earth, but I didn't think it was _this _important to them."

"It's different with Toph." Katara explained. "Toph sees with Earthbending, so she needs to be as connected as possible to the Earth to see properly. If she puts on shoes, it'll be like she's seeing through a veil."

"I see." Jin asked. "But how can Toph see with Earthbending?"

"She can sense the vibrations in the earth around her, and use it to get a picture of what's around her." Luz answered. "Unfortunately, the shoes would mask it somewhat. But it's just not possible for her to walk around barefoot."

"Can I see those shoes for a moment?" Jin asked suddenly. Nodding, Luz handed over the sneakers that she'd found for Toph. Looking over them, Jin felt along the bottom of the shoe, squishing the rubber underneath her fingers. "Is it possible to take this stuff out?" Jin asked.

"But wouldn't that ruin the shoe?" Katara said.

"No, we could take it out, and maybe Bosque could fill it in with some hollow wood. That would vibrate much better then this, and give Toph a clearer picture."

"That might actually work." Luz said thoughtfully, rubbing her chin. "We'd have to leave some rubber in for comfort reasons, but I've heard of blind people wearing hollow shoes for similar reasons. Bosque could definitely do it, and if nothing else, it's at least worth a try."

"All right, but would Toph go for it?" Katara asked.

"I can't imagine why she wouldn't." Luz asked. "She won't like the shoes no matter what we do, but I imagine she was really mad about not being able to see and having to rely on everyone to guide her around. It's a good thing I didn't mention a cane."

"WHAT WAS THAT??!!" came a yell from the changing room, as Toph stomped her way out. "Listen here furball, I am not going to walk around with a cane! I can get around just fine!" Toph snapped, poking her finger against the fox's chest. As Luz and Jin retired to calm the young Earthbender down, Katara wisely stepped back and let them go. However, as she moved back, she felt a hand tap her on the shoulder. Turning around in surprise, she saw Bosque standing right behind her.

"Wow. This is almost exactly what I pictured when I imagine Toph shopping for clothes." The squirrel said, looking at the scene behind Katara.

"Actually, it went fine until we got to shoes." Katara said. "How did it go at the pawnshop?"

"Actually, Tierra got it wrong." Bosque replied with a smile. "Apparently, it changed into a coin shop. I thought that I'd have to make a bunch of weird wooden knick-knacks, but instead, Hierro just made a little gold and silver, and the guy gave us about three grand for 'em!"

"Is that a lot?" Katara asked.

"Even in New York, that should last us for the day." The squirrel replied. "Hier is just telling the others now, and I figured this was were you guys would be."

"Actually, it's kinda funny you came here." Katara said. "You might be able to help with this shoe problem….."


	13. The Next Move

Chap. 13

The Next Move

Bosque listened to Katara as she related Jin's plan and he agreed, it was a good idea. The two of them then spent about ten minutes calming Toph down enough to listen to their idea. Thankfully, she liked it and finally agreed to wear the shoes. After that, it was simply a matter of finding the others, checking out the clothes, and paying for them. And while there were a few choices that had to be redone (Aang's idea of mixing plaid with neon green simply made everyone feel like vomiting after looking at it) it all went rather smoothly, and the group finally exited the store.

"Well, that takes care of stage 1." Oscuridad said as he stepped onto the streets again. Turning around, the bat watched as the others came out, smiling as the Avatar Gang exited, holding their old clothes in plastic bags. It was just so weird to see them dressed in these American fashions, although Osc had to admit that they all looked quite good in them. Aang had chosen some beige shorts, a long red shirt with black stripes down the arms, white Reebok sneakers, and a black ski-cap to cover up his arrow-tattoo. Sokka, in a rather humorous move after his meeting with the black man at the crossing, wore a similar pair of Reeboks, extremely baggy jeans, a white shirt with an open gray-and-black splashed button-down over it, and a white bandana tied around his head.

Zuko was far more practical, and wore a simple pair of black jeans and a long shirt splashed with dark red flame designs with black sneakers. Iroh had been rather difficult to find good clothes for, but they had managed to find some simple shoes, beige slacks, and a large blue shirt (which didn't do a lot to hide Iroh's figure, but it still looked quite good on him). As for the girls, the bat thought he was watching a very interesting fashion progression as they came out. Katara had chosen a pair of rather tight jeans, along with some sneakers and a dark blue top. The bat could tell just by the surprised/adoring look on Aang's face that he liked the new look. Jin wore a jeans skirt, black leggings, and a green top. The bat noticed Zuko liked the look just as much as Aang liked Katara's, since he had the same expression plastered on his face that the Avatar did.

But it was Toph's outfit that really caught the bat's attention. It wasn't radically different or anything; jeans, white T-shirt, a numbered baseball jersey outside of that, and a ballcap perched on her head. But Oscuridad stared at it, shook his head, and asked Luz for at least the tenth time, "Are you sure that the Mets was all they had?"

"This is Manhattan." The fox replied. "It's a lot closer to the Bronx, so Yankees stuff goes fast."

"As well, no one's perfect." The bat sighed.

"I think she looks great." Tierra shot back.

"Of course you do. You're actually under the delusion that the Mets are a good team." Oscuridad shot back.

"You know, I'd have a lot more interest in this argument if I actually knew what it was about." Sokka said.

"Sports teams. These two have the same argument every time we come here." Trueno said. "Just let 'em go and they'll drop it. Or they'll go on and on for hours until we all go mad from hearing about it."

"If that's the case, may I make a suggestion?" Iroh said, hoping to divert the bat and dog's attention. "Perhaps we should find a private spot where Bosque can make the alterations to Toph's shoes, and we can figure out our next move."

"Good idea." Everyone quickly agreed.

"I saw a place near the coin shop we can use." Hierro said. "We can get something to eat, too." Everyone nodded at that, so the spider began to walk back in that direction, the others following. Well, except for Oscuridad and Tierra, who had been and were still, arguing the merits of the Yankees and the Mets. Until finally, they paused, noticed that everyone was gone, and looked at each other with equal looks of embarrassment.

"They left us again." Tierra said.

"Yep." The bat replied with exasperation. "One of these days, we have got to settle this."

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

"It won't happen will it?"

"Not a chance in hell. Now, let's try to find them."

* * *

Thankfully, the two Elementals managed to find the group in the crowd (a set of horns apparently stick out rather well), and once that was done, they all walked back to the coin shop, and a few stores down, they reached the place that Hierro had spoken of.

"So what is this?" Aang asked, looking at the restaurant in front of them. It was a fairly small place, the window decorated with red and white checkerboard patterns. There was a small statue in the corner of a chubby man in white, holding a circular pastry and smiling through his mustached face.

"Well, at least it ain't Dominoes." Luz said. "We're in New York; we should be able to get some real pizza."

"Pizza?" Aang asked. "Is that what this place is called?"

"No, it's what they serve." Tierra answered. "You'll like it; it's bread and cheese and tomato sauce and anything else you want to put on it."

"That doesn't sound too bad." Katara said.

"Plus, there's a good-size bathroom in there, so Bosque can fix Toph's shoes without a problem." Hierro said. "I'll hollow 'em out of course." The spider quickly added, noticing his brother's annoyed look.

"Whatever, let's just go and get some food." Jin said, making her way to the door. "I'm starving."

"Now, why doesn't that surprise me?" Toph said, as the group followed her inside. Once there, they saw that the restaurant was filled with many square tables, but most of them could only fit about four people.

"No problem, we'll just put a few of them together." Jin said, as she grabbed a table and began to bring it together with another one.

"You think quickly don't you?" Agua said, as he moved to grab another table.

"Well I'm hungry." Jin said with a laugh. "But you're right, my dad always called me his little cat-owl, because I could always see a solution before he could."

"No offense, but I think that where your dad and his temper is concerned, that could be anybody."

Jin smiled and started to respond, but then there was a clunk as another table pushed into hers. Looking up, she Zuko at the other end of the table.

"I thought you could use some help." The former prince said.

"Thanks." Jin said calmly, as she started to grab some chairs and put them together.

"Let me help." Zuko asked, starting to move over.

"That's ok. I've got it." Jin replied in that same calm voice, as she began to bring over some of the chairs from where the other tables had been. Zuko started to say something, but Agua whispered, "Not now kid. Wait." It wasn't the answer Zuko wanted to hear, but he knew it was the right one, so he grudgingly kept silent.

Meanwhile, the group decided that about three pizzas would be enough for the sixteen of them, so Oscuridad took the necessary money and ordered, making sure there were appropriate pies and drinks for everyone while they sat down and put their bags down. Hierro headed to the bathroom with Toph's shoes and cut out the rubber base. Leaving them there, he exited in time for Bosque to enter and fill them in with hollow wood. He emerged with the shoes a moment later, and presented them to Toph, who tried them on, and called them satisfactory after a 'vibrations' test. Once all that was taken care of, Bosque moved over to the table, sat down with the others, and they began to talk.

"So, any idea as to what our next move is?" Oscuridad asked to start things off.

"Isn't it obvious?" Desierto asked. "Azula's here too, along her troops. We need to start looking for her."

"It isn't that simple." Hierro argued. "This city is huge, and we have less then twenty-four hours to search for her. It's too dangerous to split up because we might not get back in time for the portal."

"But we do need to do something." Katara argued. "If there's no bending in this world, then Azula will have a field day here."

"True, but that may be to our advantage." Iroh said. "My niece is not one to be too disoriented by this turn of events. When she realizes there are no other Firebenders here, she will start to attack the city almost instantly. And it will not be a small event."

"But that makes it even more important to find her now." Desierto argued. "We can't let any innocent people get hurt."

"Then where do you propose we start looking?" Hierro asked. "They may have been sent to the same city, but we have no idea where, and we don't have time to search every borough, and it's too dangerous to use our powers."

"I agree with Uncle." Zuko said. "Azula will make herself known when she realizes what has happened. And there is no way we could find her in time to stop her from causing damage."

"So what do we then?" the wolf asked. "Take a vacation?"

"Actually, that doesn't sound like a bad idea." Aang said. "I mean, how often are we going to get a chance to see another world?"

"I'd certainly like to see this place in more detail." Jin said.

"And I wouldn't mind enjoying some home-comforts." Aire said. "No offense guys, but your world is pretty primitive compared to here."

"Why? Because we don't have cars and big clothing stores?" Toph asked sarcastically.

"Look, these are all good points." Oscuridad said. "But I think the only way we'll settle this is with a vote. Everybody who wants to look for Azula, raise your hand." Desierto, Tierra, Katara, Sokka, Bosque, Fuego, and Toph raised their hands.

"Everybody who wants to see the sights, raise your hand." Zuko, Agua, Luz, Jin, Iroh, Aire, Trueno, and Hierro raised their hands.

"Looks like it's up to you, big bro." Aire said. "Do we decide, or do we need a tie-breaker?"

The bat was quiet a moment, then said, "I would feel better if we had Azula. But I agree, the city is too big, and we don't have enough time or manpower to look for her. But she will make her move, so we just need to keep our eyes open. With mass media, I doubt it'll be hard."

Aang started to ask what mass media was, but before he could, a pair of waitresses came over with a pair of pizzas and some plates and glasses. "The others should be out in a little while." One of them said, as she put plates down in front of the group.

"Sounds good. Make sure my cousin gets the caffeine-free." Oscuridad said, pointing at Aang. The waitress nodded, and handed Aang a glass of ice and brown liquid. Finally, they placed the pies on the table and walked off.

"Sweet, sausage and pepperoni! Dig in!" Tierra said happily, as he reached over and dragged a slice onto his plate. As some of the other Knights grabbed a slice from either that pie, or the plain one, Sokka carefully reached over to the pie with the familiar scent of meat, pulled one off, and then quickly moved it to his plate. As the others watched he then wrapped his burned hands around his cold drink.

"Sorry man, should've told you it was hot." Fuego said, as he took a bite from his own slice. Sokka scowled at the red man, but after a few minutes, he picked up the slice again and slowly brought it to his mouth. He bit it, chewed once, twice, then his eyes went wide and he began to hungrily devour the rest.

"Wow, it's that good?" Katara asked. Sokka's only response was to grab another slice as he finished.

"I guess so." Zuko replied, as he grabbed a slice. One by one the others followed, and after a few minutes, the Avatar Gang was collectively enjoying their first slice of pizza.


	14. Interlude 1: The Beach

Chap. 14

Interlude 1: The Beach

"See anything yet?" Mai asked absently, as she sat a rock, sharpening her dagger. As the waves crashed up against the shore, Ty Lee looked over and shook her head. Mai sighed, and looked over at Azula with anger in her eyes. The Princess took no notice however, and merely continued to contemplate her plans in silence. Mai scowled and turned back to her dagger. After the girls, along with their troops, had been sucked through the portal, they had tumbled around in that weird void, being bombarded with lights, sounds, and then those huge, evil eyes. Mai shuddered a bit just thinking about it.

Finally, they had been sent out, onto this strange beach in the middle of nowhere. After they had pulled themselves together, Ty Lee had suggested that they find some people and ask them where they were. It would've been a fine plan, if there had been any people around (the chill in the air likely had something to do with that). Instead, Azula had ordered the few troops they had to do reconnaissance, and report back with their current location. The troops had left close to an hour ago, and the girls had been sitting on the beach ever since, waiting in utter boredom.

Well not total boredom. Ty Lee kept herself busy with her endless flips, Azula planned out her next moves, and as for Mai, her boredom was laced with anger. It was Azula's fault that they were stuck here. Despite the danger to everyone around them back in the village, the Princess hadn't been able to realize it in her stupid quest to hurt her brother's 'girlfriend' and because of that, everyone had suffering for it.

But Mai wasn't angry as much about Azula's assault on the girl as she was about her attacks on Zuko. No matter what, Azula could not stop trying to torment her brother at all costs. When Mai had learned that Azula was hunting him along with the Avatar, she knew that she had to stick with the Princess no matter what. Even after all these years, Mai still cared about Zuko; though they had never had the relationship she'd hoped for, he had always been kind to her, and they had had a decent friendship before he was banished. Mai knew that if Azula brought Zuko back herself, he would be a broken mess in mind and body. Mai refused to let that happen. If Zuko had to be brought to justice, fine, but there was no reason for that kind of brutality.

_And it isn't like Ty Lee could do anything about it. _Mai thought as she looked over at her flipping companion. Granted, Ty Lee would've likely been as repulsed by Azula's method as Mai would've, but she wasn't strong enough to say or do anything about it. Ty Lee had always gone with Azula's decisions, even though she was far more self-assured when she was by herself. There was some hope that Ty Lee might eventually be pushed too far and drop her mindless following, but until then Mai would have to stay around and keep Zuko safe.

"Mai, can you please put that dagger down?" Azula snapped suddenly, bringing Mai out of her thoughts. "If I have to hear that scraping one minute longer, I'm going to go mad."

"Gee, I'd love to." Mai replied. "But since you got us stuck here, I think you should put up with a little noise."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Azula snapped, as Ty Lee stopped flipping and turned her attention over to her friends.

"Isn't it obvious?" Mai replied, getting back to her feet. "I told you to let the Knights shut off the portal, but you had to keep going. If the Firelord had gotten that piece from the girl, he might've been able to shut it off. But because of you he didn't. So I'd say it's your fault we're stuck here."

"No, it's my fault that they got sucked in as well!" Azula yelled, coming over to Mai in a huff. "If that Elemental had gotten the piece, he would've used it to trap us here. Instead, they got sucked in as well, and once we find them, they'll be at our mercy."

"Right, and the fact that the girl holding it may have been Zuko's girlfriend meant nothing to you." Mai dryly said back.

"That was simply a bonus." Azula said smugly.

"Oh please. We're trapped here because you wanted to hurt your brother." Mai said. "That's all you've really cared about since we started this."

"Come on Mai, Azula's not like that." Ty Lee said, trying to stop the argument. "What if they had been trying to send us here alone?"

"Do you really think that the Elemental Knights would really do that?" Mai asked. "They're supposed to be honorable to the point of it being a handicap. They would've fought us by hand, rather then set loose some 'malicious Firebenders' on an unsuspecting world. Azula's just angry because she failed to kill Zuko's friend."

"Oh you know it's true." Mai said, seeing Azula grow even angrier. "You had a clear shot at her, but you didn't take it. What was stopping you? Was it that Water-Tribe boy? Don't tell me you have a crush on him too?"

Azula's eyes went wide with rage, but before she could reply, there was some noise behind them, then a voice called out, "Princess!" The group turned to see the Firebender troops returning from further up on the beach.

"Did you find out where we are?" Azula asked instantly, her control back in place at the sight of her subordinates.

"No Princess, but we did find some signs of civilization." The captain replied. "You must it for yourself though. It is beyond anything I have ever seen."

"Very well. You may not have been able to judge if it was dangerous or not." Azula snapped. "Lead the way, Captain."

* * *

The troops led the three girls up the beach, while Mai and Azula silently steamed at each other. Both wanted to continue their argument, but neither wanted to do it in front of the troops. So they each hiked on in silence, with Ty Lee praying that they wouldn't start something else until they were out of this world and back home.

Finally, they reached the place the troops had found. And just as the Captain had promised, it was beyond anything they had ever seen. Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee stared in amazement, all traces of the argument forgotten, as they stared at the huge, towering structures, the flashing, blazing lights, the strange traveling vehicles that spun around on its own huge twisting track, the calliope music, and the happy screams of the people there.

"What on earth is that place?" Mai breathed, amazement actually creeping into her voice.

"Something about it kinda reminds me of the circus." Ty Lee said. "I don't know why though."

"It's probably the music." Azula said. "It gives me that same feeling too. Now let's going. There are plenty of people there who can tell us where we are, and it doesn't look like anything we can't handle."

The Fire Princess walked forward, the group following her. They headed over to the large arch entrance, over which hung a sign that if they could have read, would have said, "WELCOME TO CONEY ISAND, NY."


	15. Reconciliation Part 1: Of Light and Dark

Chap. 15

Reconciliation Part 1: Of Light and Dark

"Are we there yet?" Toph grumbled as the group walked down the block. After lunch, the group had decided to take a little tour of the city, with Tierra mapping out the best spots to visit. He had immediately suggested a place that he said would seem very familiar to the group. However, he had not mentioned that it was quite a few blocks away, and certain group members were getting tired.

"Didn't you walk across a desert a while back?" the dog answered dryly. Toph merely muttered in response as they crossed over to the next block.

"Truthfully, this is a rather long walk." Iroh said, as he wiped sweat from his brow. "Are we getting close?"

"Actually, we're there." Tierra said, as the group finished crossing. "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Central Park." The dog said, with a flourish as he gestured behind him. Almost instantly, the Avatar Gang gasped in amazement at the huge, green park that lay in the middle of this huge concrete metropolis. As they walked into it slowly, they looked around, as if they couldn't believe it was real.

"How can this sort of place exist here?" Katara asked, as she ran her fingers down the bark of a tree.

"The city built it nearly a century ago to give the city some connection with nature." Tierra replied, neatly switching into his tour guide mode. "Other cities do it to."

"Hmm. In the Fire Nation, we simply have cities and jungles." Iroh said thoughtfully. "Truthfully, I never liked the idea of total division. So much beauty could be gained from a park like this."

"They have the same thing back home." Jin added. "But at least you guys have some vegetation. All we have is desert and rocky plains. It must be amazing to have a jungle nearby."

"It is a sight." Iroh added. "I remember Zuko used to play there all the time when he was a boy. I'm sure he could describe them far better then I could."

Indeed, Zuko seemed quite eager to speak (especially to Jin) as he started to speak. But before he could get even two words out, Jin said, "Hey, what's that?" and ran over to something in the distance. Zuko's face fell, as Iroh said, "Sorry nephew. I tried."

"It's all right." Zuko muttered, as he walked off to follow Jin.

"Man, he's taking this hard." Sokka said.

"I know. I didn't think I'd ever see Zuko being lovesick." Aang said.

"I wish we could help him, but I don't know what we can say." Katara added.

"Maybe there's something we can say." Oscuridad said suddenly.

"To both of them." Added Luz. "After all, things can't get any worse."

It turned out that the thing Jin had spotted was a playground, filled with laughing children. Despite her age, the earth Kingdom girl was happily moving through like a child herself, her joy evident at all the new toys this world had to offer. But Zuko merely sat on a nearby bench and watched, his expression pained and tense. As the others approached, Oscuridad and Luz whispered out a quick plan. Everyone else nodded, and moved off to another section of the park, as the bat and fox moved to their respective targets.

"So, how's it going?" Oscuridad asked, as he sat down on the bench next Zuko. The former prince said nothing, as he looked across the way to where Jin sat, smiling as she watched the kids play on the swings.

"You know, you can go over and talk to her." The bat said gently.

"There's nothing I can say that she will listen to." Zuko replied bitterly, as he looked down on his feet, just as Luz walked over to Jin.

"Maybe you can change that." Oscuridad said. "I know things look bad now, but…"

"But what?" Zuko snapped, his frustration and anger coming out. "Don't you understand? She hates me now! I lied to her and I can never get her trust back just like…"

"Just like you were afraid of." The bat finished. "Because you knew that what you were was nothing compared to what she was, and the only way you were even good enough to stand in her presence was to wrap yourself in a lie. And now, it's all gone, and she's seen the pathetic little freak you were underneath."

Zuko stared at the bat wide-eyed. Every word that he had spoken was what he had felt raging in his heart ever since the village. But how could this be?

"Did you read my heart again?" Zuko asked.

"I didn't need to." Oscuridad replied. "I felt the same way a long time ago."

* * *

"What do you mean?" Jin asked, as Luz finished echoing the statement her husband had made from across the park.

"Believe me Jin, you aren't the first person to experience something like this." The fox replied. "I had the same thing happen to me when I first Oscuridad."

"But you always knew about him." Jin argued. "You were….."

"Created with him? Sorry." Luz said with a laugh. "If that was the case, I'd be his sister, and things would be really kinky."

"Eww." Jin muttered in disgust. "But then, how did you guys end up like this?"

"Well, it's a long story." Luz replied. "But before it starts, you need to know one thing about me. I wasn't always like this; I used to be…"

* * *

"Human?" Zuko gasped in amazement.

"Yep." Oscuridad replied. "All the Knights were originally. We're a combination of Elemental magic, an animal body, and a human soul. But the Architects blocked out our memories of who we were, because we had died without fulfilling our lives' great purpose and hung in limbo. But anyway, we were selected, and after some time and training, we were separated and sent to Earth to learn about the ways of man. We were given money, basic information about human customs, and not much else.

I was sent to a city called Hoboken in New Jersey, which is the next state down from here. Anyway, I got a life going after a while, but it wasn't easy being along all the time. Then one night, I was walking home from work, when I heard a shout. I looked in front of me, and I saw a woman fighting with somebody under a street light."

* * *

"What did you do?" Jin asked with baited breath.

"I struggled as best I could, but he was much stronger then I was. But I had one thing going for me; I was pissed! It was my first night in Jersey after moving from Denver and I had just spent the day walking around the city, getting to know things while I figured out what I was going to do with my degree. This was the last thing I needed. But I just couldn't get away from him. But then I heard a yell from up the street and heard somebody running towards me."

"Oscuridad?"

"Who else?" Luz answered. "Of course I didn't know that then; he had his illusion on, and it was dark. But he pulled the guy off me and they started to fight. Osc was far more skilled and took him down pretty fast. Of course, the kick in the balls I gave helped. Finally the guy ran off, and Osc checked on me. He was pretty cute then; his illusion was this lean looking guy, with dark eyes and long black hair. I said I was fine though, and played it cool. He insisted on walking me home though and we talked on the way. He was so funny and sarcastic, mocking himself and everything around him. I thought it was so cute. I even decided to give him my number, and suggest that I should treat him to dinner as a reward for saving me."

* * *

"Wow. So how did the dinner go?" Zuko asked.

"Pretty good, even though I was absolutely terrified." The bat answered with a laugh. "I'd never even thought about a relationship before, and there I was on a date with a beautiful woman. And Zuko, part of me thought I was making a mistake. I was an immortal, a non-human immortal, with no real life outside of the Architects. What did I have to offer this woman? But another part of me kept looking at her green eyes, at her red hair, and I knew that I would have to get all those things for her. I would be the best man I could be for her, and I would make her mine. If it took me the rest of my life, I would make this woman my wife, and give her everything she ever wanted."

* * *

"He had such a case of puppy love." Luz said fondly. "He was like a teenager out on his first date, all confused and awkward, which was weird because he looked like he was in his mid-twenties."

"I know what that's like." Jin added.

"But he tried so hard, I couldn't help but like him. We started dating after a while, and things got close, but….."

"But you knew something was up." Jin said.

Luz nodded. "He would disappear a lot of the time, or call off dates. At first, I could accept it, but after a while it was like living with a superhero or something, and I started to really press him for answers.

* * *

"What could I tell her?" Oscuridad continued. "That I wasn't human? That I was fighting demons in my spare time with all the powers of darkness at my beck and call? She'd think I was crazy. And even though I could prove it, doing so was definitely going to ruin our relationship. So I made things up, even it hurt and I could tell she didn't buy it. Eventually, I had to keep wrestling with keeping her in the dark, or believe that she could love me enough to accept me."

"So what did you do?" Zuko asked.

* * *

"One night, he came over to my apartment for a date. I was ready to go, but he wasn't. He said that he had something that he needed to get off his chest, and that he was tired of lying to me. I told him I was too, but that as long as his secret wasn't drug-dealing, murder, or being married, I could accept it."

"Then he showed you what he looked like." Jin said.

"Right. There was this weird shimmer over him, almost a veil that was fading away before my eyes. Then it vanished completely and I saw him for what he really was."

* * *

"She didn't take it well at first. She screamed in terror, backed away, and grabbed a knife. She kept asking who I was, and what I had done with 'Brett', the name I had at the time. Part of me was glad she cared about the human me, but a bigger part was waiting for her to put two and two together and kick me out. Then she threw the knife at me."

* * *

"He just put up his hand and the knife lodged into his palm. He looked at it a minute, then he pulled it out with a grunt. I remember watching his powers come on and heal the wound in seconds. I thought he was going to come after me then, but instead, he put the knife down, and starting talking to me in Brett's voice."

* * *

"I begged her to listen me, to give me chance to explain myself. She kept backing away, and I started to babble, blurting things out faster and faster. I said that I may not have been human, but being with her made me a better man then I could ever be by myself. I said that I had never felt more whole in all my time on this Earth then when she was with me."

* * *

"Then he said some horribly cheesy line from this…… well, I guess you'd call it a play, named _She's All That. _I just stared at him, and then I started to laugh. It was such a stupid, corny, line, and he actually thought that it would work. But it was something that I knew Brett would say. I knew that it was still him then, but I just couldn't stop laughing.

* * *

"I thought maybe I'd driven her to insanity, but then I realized what a horrible line it was. I started laughing too, and we just stood there, laughing like madmen for I don't know how long. But finally, we stopped and I think she finally realized that I was still the same person under the fur. She walked over slowly, and ran her fingers over my face, tracing the lines of bone and fur. Then she looked into my eyes for the longest time, and then asked me a question."

* * *

"I asked him, "What are you, Brett?" He spent the next two hours telling me about everything; the Architects, how they made him and his brothers, what they did, all of it. It was so huge, so unbelievable, but after looking at him and seeing what he could do, I had to believe it. But then the question remained of what we were going to do with each other.:

* * *

"I asked her, "Do you still want me here? If you want, I can leave; I can even make it so you don't remember me." She asked me if I could do that to myself, and forget her. I said that there was no magic strong enough for that, and that I would rather spend the rest of my days remembering her in pain then to forget her completely."

* * *

"I said if that was the case, why did he think that he needed to do either of those things? His eyes went wide, but he was too afraid to say anything, so I kept talking. I said that I fell in love with a man, and that he was still here, underneath all the fur and darkness. As long as that man stayed with me, then nothing else mattered. He started to cry then, and I just hugged him and drew him close.

* * *

"But what happened then?" Zuko asked, as the bat fell silent. "How did she get changed? When did you get married? When did…."

"Stories for another time, my boy." Oscuridad said. "You've heard all you needed to hear. After all that, Luz and I are still together and it has been the best and happiest decision we ever made."

"But we're not like that." Zuko said. "I'm not something noble. My country has been trying to rule the world for decades. And I was going to take the throne and keep it all going. How is she supposed to accept me?"

* * *

"How was I supposed to accept a man-bat with all the powers of shadow at his command?" Luz answered. "I looked past that and I saw the person he was inside. Do you know why Zuko was banished Jin? He argued against sending a newly trained squadron against the Earth Kingdom army as cannon fodder. Isn't that noble?"

"Yeah, I guess it is." Jin said thoughtfully. "And he talked so much about honor when we discussed the war. He said that the worst thing the Fire Nation had done was lose their sense of honor for a mindless drive for power. He said it with such vehemence in his voice. I thought it was so profound, but now I know he was speaking from his personal experience."

"People can surprise you Jin." Luz said. "Zuko may be Fire Nation, he may have lied to you, but it doesn't mean that he's a bad person. He said a hundred times that he hated lying to you, but ask yourself, what would you have done in his place? And even if he is Fire Nation, you said yourself that they can't all be evil. Are you going to throw him away for it anyway?"

Jin was quiet then, as she absorbed the fox's words. Finally, she said, "I need to think about all this."

"Of course." Luz said gently, as Jin got to her feet. "Just think carefully Jin."

* * *

Zuko watched as Jin got up from the bench and walked off. He looked over at Oscuridad, his face saying the question on his lips.

"Go to her." The bat replied. "Tell her how you feel. Maybe she won't accept you, but you will never forgive yourself if you don't try."

Zuko nodded, and got to his feet. He began to slowly walk after Jin, being careful to leave some distance between them. Once they were out of range, the two Elementals looked at each from across the bench, and nodded at each other, the simple gestures saying volumes.


	16. Reconciliation Part 2: Of Earth and Fire

Chap. 16

Reconciliation Part 2: Of Earth and Fire

Jin walked along the path, her mind awash with Luz's story. As she thought on it, the message made more and more sense, and made her hesitation seem somewhat foolish. Luz and Oscuirdad had been at even greater ends of the spectrum then she and Zuko were. After all, what was nationality compared to basic humanity? _And they seem so happy together._ Jin thought to herself. _Of course, I wish Luz would've told me how on Earth she became the way she is now, because that had to be a big part of it. And it isn't like I can become a Firebender for Zuko or vice versa. _

But that sounded so petty given how much love the two of them had to have had for each other before that. Oscuridad had truly loved Luz, and even though he'd lied to her, he had done it to protect their love from all the demons that came with his true identity. And Zuko had a lot of those same demons with him, plus he'd been a wanted fugitive and according to his uncle, very hesitant about close personal experiences. It explained a lot of his nervousness when they'd first met, but if he'd had these problems, why would he have stayed with her afterwards? _Maybe he really does care about me. But do I feel that way about him after all this?_

* * *

Zuko moved silently along the path, using all of his training to its fullest extent. It might've seemed foolish to an outsider; after all, Zuko was trying to talk to this girl, and he was hanging back, almost avoiding her. But there was a method to this madness. Zuko wanted to have some privacy when they talked, and that meant getting as far from the others as possible. But Zuko also needed the time for another reason; he had absolutely no idea what he was going to say to her. He'd apologized for his lies and that more or less been the extent of his planning in that area. _Uncle was right. I never think these things through at all. _Zuko thought as he trailed behind. _What should I do then? Should I get down on my knees and make a heartfelt vow of love to her? I'm not sure I could even get out two words that didn't sound like babble. And what if she doesn't want anything to do with me no matter what? _

_But what if she does? _He thought a second later. _Remember what Oscuridad said; it would hurt more to live and not know then to find out and be hurt. I have to do this, even if I don't know how. Besides, in all the plays back home, the hero always knows what to say to his lady when he proclaims his love. Maybe that's how it works in real love too. Wait, that's stupid. If it was that easy, I wouldn't be having this problem. I've got to figure out what to say._

But before could begin to think of any heartfelt declarations, a pair of figures suddenly whizzed past Jin, casing her to twist around in an attempt to avoid them. Zuko realized the danger he was in and tried to leap out of the way, but before he could, the two kids shot past him on their stranger wheeled boards. Zuko twisted to avoid them, but one of them grazed his side and knocked him to the ground. Zuko hit with a thud as the two kids shot off down the paths. _Damn punks. _The former princes thought, as he turned on his side and started to get to his feet. But before he could, he heard a voice say, "How long have you been following me?"

Grimacing more from that voice then the pain, Zuko looked up and saw Jin looking down at him with a bemused expression.

"Well?" she asked.

"Um, since you started walking?" Zuko said sheepishly. Jin shook her head, and Zuko thought that he was done before he even began. But then she extended her hand to him. Zuko took it gratefully and got to his feet.

"We need to talk don't we?" Jin said. Zuko nodded, mentally thanking the gods that he still had a chance.

"Well, I don't feel like walking anymore, so let's go sit down and talk." Jin said. Zuko feverishly agreed, and the two of them moved over to the grass next to the path and sat down.

"This is so hard, you know." Jin said once they were sitting. "I remember when I first saw you in the tea shop. You were so quiet and secretive. But you were handsome too; even that scar couldn't destroy it." Zuko smiled briefly at that, as Jin continued. "Everything about you was such a mystery, and I wanted to solve it. Now I wish I had never looked. Because now I'm so confused about you. You were so strange at first, but after the fountain, I thought that maybe you were just afraid to be yourself. You used Firebending by the way, didn't you?"

Zuko nodded. "I thought so. I can't believe I didn't think of it. I just thought you were a nice guy who was trying to be tough. But instead you were trying to be something else, someone else entirely. Lee was just a quiet ex-circus performer, but Zuko is the Prince of the Fire Nation. And I just don't know if I can reconcile them. I know it sounds petty and stupid because you're both the same person no matter your past, but….."

"But what?" Zuko asked gently.

"I-I just don't know the person you were." Jin said, as tears started to run down her face. "All I know is stories about Zuko, the banished prince who terrorized every port he came to, looking for the Avatar that didn't exist. And I….. I….." Jin stopped then, as she took a deep, sobbing breath and wiped her eyes.

"Jin." Zuko said then, in an apprehensive voice. "Do you hate me?"

She was quiet then, as his question hung in the air. Zuko waited with his heart in his throat, as he prayed to Darya for the answer he wanted. But finally, she said, "No Zuko, I don't think I do. But….. it's complicated."

"Do you still care about me?" he asked then.

Again silence. Then Jin gave a quick, hard nod.

"I still care about you too Jin. I've never stopped. But you're right. You don't know who I was before. I wish you didn't have to, because I'm not proud of that person. I was selfish and arrogant, barely caring about the people around me. My father's part of the reason, but I did a lot of it myself. But that isn't me anymore. Because that me scares me, and I can never let myself fall down that hole again. The person you met in Ba Sing Se is the person I'm trying to be."

"I can believe you, but I just don't know…" Jin said.

"You remember how I said things were complicated before?" Zuko said.

"Yeah."

"They were complicated because I didn't know how to deal with it, and I think that's what you're going through now. But if we both know we care about each other, do those complications really matter? We're two people who love each other. What else matters?"

Jin looked at Zuko then, her eyes wide with tears and amazement. Zuko looked back, and slowly, he began to lean forward. Jin began to lean as well. The two of them drew closer and closer until finally, their lips joined together in a gentle kiss. Zuko reached forward and wrapped his arms around Jin, drawing her in closer as Jin embraced Zuko. As their kiss deepened, Zuko thought for a brief moment, _Perhaps the plays are closer to reality then they know._


	17. Interlude 2: Coney Island

Chap. 17

Interlude 2: Coney Island

The calliope music rang through the air, it's happy tones matched by the joyful cries of the children who rode the merry-go-round. All around, people walked and smiled as they planned their next ride, or enjoyed a hot dog, or prepared to destroy their teeth and cholesterol with some deep-fried dough or sweet candy. Truly, this was a place of merriment and enjoyment, where all of one's troubles vanished.

But all those things meant nothing to the group that walked through the park alone, their red clothing and serious demeanor setting them apart from the crowd. And none were more set off then Azula, for whom people instantly cleared a path without even being asked. Still, this meant nothing to the Princess; she was used to people making way for her at first glance. And besides, her mind was currently involved in far more important things, such as wondering what kind of madhouse world she had been hurled into.

_Look at them. Walking around like chattering monkeys. _Azula thought with disgust, as she looked at all the people around her. _They don't even have enough sense to fear me. If they really did, they'd be begging to tell me what I want to know._

_**Please. They have no idea who you are. Why should they fear you?**_ A voice in her head replied, one that sounded a good deal like Mai. Azula gritted her teeth at that voice, but she knew it was right. Ever since they were children, Mai had been the voice of reason for the three of them. Azula had often lacked understanding of the situation with her one-track mind, and Ty Lee…. Well, that was self-explanatory. Mai had been the only one with enough gumption to question Azula's orders (most of the time) and when she did, they usually led to some pretty astute observations, that had saved Azula from trouble quite a few times. It only made sense then that Azula's voice of reason sounded like Mai.

That didn't mean however, that Azula had to like it. _Fine, but then what am I supposed to do? _She thought back. _Beg for someone to tell me where we are, like a filthy peasant?_

_**No, but you can just ask. If you're nice, maybe they'll tell you what you want.**_

_I shouldn't have to be nice. I'm….._

_**Newsflash, Azula. It doesn't matter here. You're not a princess here; you're just a lost fifteen-year-old girl. You're probably going to have to do some back scratching to get out, and you've got no one to blame for it but yourself.**_

……………….

Azula had finally managed to do to herself what no other living person could; shut herself up. Yes, it was her fault, and no matter how angry she got about it, she couldn't deny it. All she'd thought about was seeing the look on Zuko's face when his little girlfriend went up in flames right in front of his face. If the Fire Knight had gotten the piece of that thing, he might've been able to stop all this from coming to pass. But he didn't, and now Azula was stuck in the strange world, maybe forever, all because of her own arrogance. And while she was mostly angry with herself, Azula also felt a twinge of guilt for dragging her friends along with her.

_And I couldn't even get the stupid job done. I had a clear shot and I didn't take it. Why? Why the hell did I hesitate?_ This had been the question that had been biting at her ever since arriving in this world. If she had just destroyed that little peasant, at least she could claim that. But instead, she'd hesitated. For the first time in her life, Azula had seen an opening and not exploited it, and it was eating her up inside. Azula was the greatest weapon her father had. She had always accomplished his tasks, never once failing or encountering trouble. But this quest against the Avatar had been the most difficult mission she had ever faced. And now, to have failed to take a shot, Azula was beginning to wonder if she was losing her edge. With that thought in her mind, Azula mentally played back what had happened before they had been sucked into the vortex. She saw herself looking at the girl as she hung precariously close to the vortex. She remembered beginning to draw the power for a final shot. She remembered aiming at the girl, but then the body of the Water-Tribe boy had blocked her way, and she had…….

"Azula, look!" Ty Lee said suddenly, knocking Azula out of her thoughts. Annoyed, Azula looked over to where Ty Lee was pointing and saw a large, winding track built into the ground. As the Princess watched, a small car shot out from a wooden shack built onto the track and began to travel around. Before Azula could see where the car went though, Ty Lee practically shoved herself in the girl's face and asked, "Can we ride it? Please, it looks like fun."

"We're not here to have fun." Azula snapped. "We need to find out where we are and how to get back."

Ty Lee backed off then, as a sad, pitiful look came into her eyes, and her lower lip began to tremble. Azula mentally sighed, knowing that the acrobat was likely to start crying now (Ty Lee had always had a short fuse in that regard). But before she could, Mai put an arm on the girl's shoulder. "It's ok." Mai said soothingly. "I'll ride it with you; it looks interesting. Besides, Azula can't help it if she's scared."

"WHAT?!" Azula snapped, as the troops looked at each other and took a step back.

"Well, why else wouldn't you want to do it?" Mai asked. "After all, if we're going to learn about this world, we need to experience things and taking in a ride won't hurt. After all, that guy at the front let us in without paying because of the 'discount' he mentioned, I'm sure this guy who works this ride would do the same. But it is pretty big, and it looks quite fast. It could be pretty dangerous. But everyone who goes on seems to be enjoying it. Still, if it looks like too much for you….."

But before Mai could finish, Azula stomped forward, grabbed Ty Lee's hand, and began to drag the girl towards the entrance to the ride. Mai watched them head off and smiled. _Time for a little payback Azula. _She thought to herself.

* * *

Azula and Ty Lee marched onto the line for the ride, which thankfully was rather short. Had it been long, Azula would've likely fried the line to get on this ride and prove to Mai that she wasn't afraid of anything. Ty Lee of course, was oblivious to Azula's anger and began to smile happily now that she was finally gong on this new ride. As she turned and began to discuss the ride with some of the other people on line, Azula steamed quietly, which pretty much told everyone around her to stay away.

The line moved quickly, and Azula and Ty Lee found themselves at the gates on the end of the walkway, just as the car came to a halt on the tracks. As the people exited, the gates opened, and the two girls started to walk through. However, one of the workers stepped in front of them and said, "Tickets please."

"What?" Azula asked in genuine confusion. But the man took another look at them and said, "Sorry, I didn't notice your costumes. Hop on." The girls did just that, sitting down in the car in front of them.

"You'd better get to the show after this." The man said, as a metal bar came down and locked the girls in place.

"What show?" Ty Lee asked, but before she got an answer, the car began moving on the track……….

* * *

"There they go." Mai said, as she watched the car leave the entrance. The young girl watched as the car began its climb up the track, going higher and higher as it went up the rising track. Finally, they reached the top and went straight down, to the thrilled screams of its passengers. Mai and the troops watched as the car careened, twisted, turned, and sped along the tracks, the screams echoing with each movement. Finally, the car slowed back down and made it's way back into the shed.

"Come on, let's go get them." Mai said, as she and the guards began to walk towards the exit side of the shed. They walked up to the inside just as the car pulled in. The second it came to a halt and the metal bar went up, Ty Lee flipped out of the car, ran over to Mai, and starting hugging the girl.

"Oh Mai, it was wonderful! It was fast and twisty, and…. What's the word? It's got an 'iting' sound."

"Exciting?"

"Yes! Oh it was amazing! I love this place!" Ty Lee said happily, as she tightened her grip. Mai however, managed to slip out thanks to years of practice, and take a look over at Azula. When she did, she was torn between feeling sorry for her and laughing out loud. Azula's face was ash white, and her eyes were gigantic with fright. Her hair was disheveled and hung in front of her face, while her hands had a death grip on the car.

"Azula, you ok?" Mai asked. But there was no response, only Azula's breathing. "Come on, wakey wakey." Mai said, snapping her fingers in front of Azula's face. That seemed to do something, as Azula started, then looked over at Mai.

"It was really fast." The Princess said, in a half-stunned voice.

"I know, I saw it. Now come on." Mai replied, as she started to pull Azula out of the car. It took a moment to break Azula's grip, but then she managed to unsteadily get to her feet. As Mai helped her friend out, the man who ran the ride said, "Hey, is she gonna be ready for the show?"

"What show?" Mai asked.

"The Saturday Spectacular. You know, the one you wore those costumes for, and got an employee discount for? The one that's starting right now?"


	18. Jammin' In the Park

Chap. 18

Jammin' in the Park

(Lyrics by Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, and U2, respectively)

_Just one thing; the luiqin that's mentioned is the stringed instrument Iroh played for the screaming kid in 'Tales of Ba Sing Se.' It was the closest thing I could think of in terms of a guitar, so I figured I'd go with it._

_Perhaps the plays are closer to reality then they know. _Zuko thought, as the kiss deepened between the two of them. But before it could go any deeper, there was a loud cough from behind, loud enough to make both of them stop and turn around. What they saw was Iroh, standing there with his hands behind his back and a big smile on his face.

"So, are things better between you two now?" the old general asked dryly.

"Uncle, how long have you been there?" Zuko asked, as Jin began to blush behind him.

"Long enough, nephew." Iroh replied. "Come now, the Knights are taking us to another part of the city."

Both of them got up then, and began walking back along the path. But as Zuko passed his uncle, Iroh reached out and grabbed the boy by his shoulder. Pulling him close, Iroh whispered, "I heard your speech Zuko. I never thought I would hear those words from your mouth, and I am truly happy that I have. But you must remember them and live by them for this girl if you truly want to be happy with her."

"I will, Uncle." Zuko replied.

Iroh nodded and said, "For three years, I helped a boy on his search for the Avatar. Today, I saw that boy take another step towards being a man. I'm proud of you Zuko."

Zuko was quiet a moment, and then whispered, "Thank you Uncle." Iroh smiled back, and together, the two Firebenders walked down the path back to the others.

* * *

"Finally. Where were you guys?" Toph asked, as Jin came back down the path, followed by Zuko and Iroh.

"Just talking." Jin replied, hoping that the last of her blush had faded. But even if it hadn't, she didn't really care. There were a lot of feelings running through her at that moment; fear, happiness, wonder, curiosity, but above all else, the want and need to build with Zuko and see where things went. All of Jin's issues and problems with just seemed so small and inconsequential after hearing his words to her, and the story of Oscuirdad and Luz. Even there was a small part of her mind that was still nervous about all of it, Jin knew that she would work past it and not let it make her decisions for her.

With that thought firmly established in her mind, Jin asked, "So where are we going now?"

"Well, we have a few options, but I thought that the big thing for you guys would be the Empire State Building." Tierra answered, as Iroh and Zuko came back from the path.

"What's so important about that?" Aang asked.

"Well, there's a hell of a view from the top." The dog replied. "You can see the whole city from there."

"Oh, so it's the tallest in the city." Zuko said.

"It is. Unfortunately." Tierra replied. But before he could elaborate, Toph suddenly said,"Hey what's that noise?" Cocking her ears towards the sound, the young girl said, "It almost sounds like music, but it's so... strange."

"I can hear it too. If it is music, it's pretty weird." Katara answered, as the others cocked their ears to the sound. Indeed, the noise Katara and Toph were hearing was one filled with pounding drums, a strange, high, piercing sound, undercut by a low one, and what sounded like a man singing. But whatever it was, it sounded extremely distorted to the ears of the Avatar Gang. Plus, it was too far away for them to hear properly.

But to the ears of the Knights, it had a different effect. One by one, their faces lit up in happy grins as the strange music rang in their ears.

"They don't sound too far away, let's check it out." Aire suggested.

"Sounds great to me." Desierto replied. "I haven't heard any music like that in a long while."

"You actually listen to whatever that is?" Iroh asked in surprise.

"Oh yeah, it's quite popular here." Fuego answered. "But you can't hear it properly from this distance. Come on, let's show you."

"But…." Sokka began to protest. But before he or anyone else could get a word out, the Knights, eager to hear this strange music, began to walk towards the sounds, pushing a few people along as they walked. This of course forced everyone else to follow.

"Do you really think this could be any good?" Zuko asked aloud as they walked towards the sound.

"Well, it should be worth a look." Aang answered. "Besides, it's something new! That alone makes it worth looking at it."

"Besides, the Knights seem to like it." Jin suggested, as Aang moved off to join up with the others further up the road.

"The Knights also like cleaning themselves with their tongues, chewing on metal to keep their teeth sharp, and eating insects." Zuko replied.

Jin grimaced at that, but replied, "Well, I guess a _few _animal instincts had to come through in the transformation."

"Yeah, I guess… wait, what do you mean?" Zuko asked.

"Well, Luz told that the Knights are made up of magic, an animal body…"

"And a human soul." Zuko finished. "Oscuridad told me the same thing, as well as how he and Luz got together."

"What! She told me the same story." Jin said. The realization came into her eyes, and she said, "They planned the whole thing out didn't they?"

"I'd say so." Zuko replied, shaking his head. "But we can't blame them I guess."

"No, I don't think we can." Jin answered back, as she slid her hand into Zuko's. The former prince smiled, and returned her grasp, as they finished walking up to where the others were standing.

"Why'd we stop?" Zuko asked.

"We're here." Oscuridad replied, as he moved over a little to let Zuko and Jin see what was going on. The two of them moved up to see a group of four men standing on the grass, and playing strange instruments for the enjoyment of a crowd. Around them were wires and strange black boxes, which the music seemed to be coming from. As everyone watched, one of the men, who was playing a stringed, liuqin-like instrument, walked up to a pole that held a strange metal stick at the top, and began to sing, his voice echoing through the boxes along with the second 'liuqin player' who had a similar stand;

_If your thing is gone and you wanna ride on_

_Cocaine _

_Don't forget this fact, you can't get it back_

_Cocaine_

_She don't lie, she don't lie, she don't lie;_

_Cocaine_

_She don't lie, she don't lie, she don't lie;_

_Cocaine_

"What on earth is he talking about?" Sokka asked, as the man suddenly pulled back and his counterpart, playing the same instrument, began to launch into a solo.

"Drugs. Now quiet, this song is a classic." Desierto said, as he listened.

"Why? I don't even know this song." Sokka said.

"Neither do I, but now that I can actually hear it, I kinda like it." Toph said, as she began to move her head to the rhythm. Aang, Katara, and Iroh also began to move, although Zuko merely watched with a contended smile.

Finally, the solo ended and with a flourish, the band finished the song, to the applause of the crowd. The group applauded as well, though Sokka muttered, "I still want to know what it is."

"It's called the blues, Sokka." Fuego replied. "It's a form of music that deals with heartbreak and pain, and that was a song by one of its great players, Eric Clapton."

"Lemme guess, it's called Cocaine?" Sokka asked back.

"Exactly. And these guys did a pretty good version of it."

"Indeed." Iroh added. "It reminded me of Music Night on the ship. If only I could've kept the Soungi horn. But it got tossed overboard before the North Pole siege."

"Yes what a pity." Zuko mumbled to himself, as he looked at the ground.

"I didn't think you were a musician, Uncle Iroh." Katara said.

"I wear many hats, my dear." The general replied.

"Actually, so do we.' Fuego said suddenly. "Why don't we show you?" Before anyone could say anything, Fuego motioned for Hierro, Tierra, and Desierto to follow him and the foursome headed over to where the musicians were standing.

"What are they doing?" Aang asked in confusion.

"I think they're about to put on a show." Luz said with a smile, as they began to speak with the musicians. Sure enough, a moment later, the band handed over their instruments to the four Knights, with Tierra moving to the drums, Fuego and Desierto holding two of the stringed 'liuqin' instruments, and Hierro taking a longer, four stringed one. The Knights checked the intruments for a moment, taping and strumming as needed. Then Fuego stepped up to the stand, and began to strum a simple melody, one that everyone on this world instantly knew, and that the crowd reacted to quite well. Then, he began to sing, in a surprisingly appropriate rough voice, while the other Knghts added rythym and support;

_I can't get no satisfaction  
I can't get no satisfaction  
'Cause I try and I try and I try and I try  
I can't get no, I can't get no  
When I'm drivin' in my car  
And that man comes on the radio  
And he's tellin' me more and more  
About some useless information  
Supposed to fire my imagination  
I can't get no, oh no no no  
Hey hey hey, that's what I say  
I can't get no satisfaction  
I can't get no satisfaction  
'Cause I try and I try and I try and I try  
I can't get no, I can't get no  
When I'm watchin' my TV  
And that man comes on to tell me  
How white my shirts can be  
But he can't be a man 'cause he doesn't smoke  
The same cigarettes as me  
I can't get no, oh no no no  
Hey hey hey, that's what I say_

The Knights continued to play, looking as though they were pouring their hearts and souls into their instruments, while they pounded out the old, but still effective song. Tierra played his drums with all the strength and tact of a seasoned pro, while Hierro kept the rhythm and melody focused, which was not easy as Fuego and Desierto were reveling in the sloppiness of the tune. But the effect was immediate. The crowd, which had been enjoying the show before, actually began to dance around. The gang watched the revelry for a minute, and then Aang smiled, took Katara's hand, and dragged her out into the crowd, where the two of them began to dance themselves. Jin did the same for Zuko, and within minutes every one was dancing, as Fuego continued to sing;

_I can't get no satisfaction  
I can't get no girl reaction  
Cause I try and I try and I try and I try  
I can't get no, I can't get no  
When I'm ridin' round the world  
And I'm doin' this and I'm signing that  
And I'm tryin' to make some girl  
Who tells me baby better come back later next week  
Cause you see I'm on losing streak  
I can't get no, oh no no no  
Hey hey hey, that's what I say  
I can't get no, I can't get no  
I can't get no satisfaction  
No satisfaction, no satisfaction, no satisfaction_

Finally, the red man whirled around, and slammed the last chord home on his instrument, to the ecstatic approval of the crowd. They applauded ferociously, as did the original band.

"Toldja we wore a few hats." Fuego yelled over to Katara.

"Yeah, but you're not the only ones." Oscuridad said, as he moved up to the stand. "Think you guys can do one more?" he asked.

"At this point, I think we could do an entire concert." Fuego replied.

"OK then, here's the plan…" the quickly whispered a song to the others, who nodded and took their positions. Moving to the stand, Oscuirad said, "This song is for two people who are beginning to learn what my wife and I have known for a very long time." With that, the bat began to sing, as Tierra began to lightly beat his drum;

_Tough, you think you've got the stuff  
You're telling me and anyone  
You're hard enough_

_You don't have to put up a fight  
You don't have to always be right  
Let me take some of the punches  
For you tonight_

_Listen to me now  
I need to let you know  
You don't have to go it alone_

_And it's you when I look in the mirror  
And it's you when I don't pick up the phone  
Sometimes you can't make it on your own_

_We fight all the time  
You and I...that's alright  
We're the same soul  
I don't need...I don't need to hear you say  
That if we weren't so alike  
You'd like me a whole lot more_

_Listen to me now  
I need to let you know  
You don't have to go it alone_

_And it's you when I look in the mirror  
And it's you when I don't pick up the phone  
Sometimes you can't make it on your own_

As Fuego began to pull back and allow Desierto to pick the notes out, Zuko stepped behind Jin and put his arms around her, as she put her arms around his neck. The others saw this, but just smiled as Oscuirdad continued the song.

_I know that we don't talk  
I'm sick of it all  
Can - you - hear - me - when - I -  
Sing, you're the reason I sing  
You're the reason why the opera is in me..._

_Where are we now?  
I've still got to let you know  
A house still doesn't make a home  
Don't leave me here alone..._

_And it's you when I look in the mirror  
And it's you that makes it hard to let go  
Sometimes you can't make it on your own  
Sometimes you can't make it  
The best you can do is to fake it  
Sometimes you can't make it on your own_


	19. Interlude 3: Saturday Spectacular

_Well everyone, this is my first chapter since the Season Finale, and I've gotta get my thoughts out. The only thing I can really say is **HOLY CRAP!!** I expected a lot of things on Friday, but I never thought that would be it. The Earth Kingdom fell, Aang almost died, and Zuko... God, I was just stunned. But let me say this folks; I don't think it will last. My gut feeling is that this is either a trick on Zuko's part, or he's going to regret his choice and betray Azula. Either way, he can't stay like this, or they've wasted a whole season of character devolpment. But I guess we just have to wait until next season to find out._

_Anyway, now onto the story, in a universe where all is right with Avatar, at least as I see it..._

Chap. 19

Interlude 3: Saturday Spectacular

The crowd before was small, barely a hundred people. In her time in the world, she had faced armies much larger then this. She had fought a great general, a banished, but still formidable prince, the living voices of the elements, and even the human incarnation of the world. But against this crowd, in this strange and twisted world, Azula had nothing. For this was a crowd that demanded something that the Princess did not know how to give. All the others she had faced had required fireblasts or lightning; these people required….. entertainment.

And as the crowd applauded as Mai and Ty Lee gave them what they wanted, Azula sat near the stairs to the stage with her troops, trying to think of something that she could possibly do to entertain these people, as she dealt with the last of the sickness from the ride. But all of Azula's knowledge was rooted in battle strategies and fighting skills and military history. None of that could be applied to the situation now, and for the first time in her life, Azula wished that her fuddy-duddy uncle was here. _He always made people laugh. I'll bet that's how he and Zuzu survived until they got to Ba Sing Se. _Azula thought. _It always seemed so stupid, but people loved it. If only I'd paid attention, instead of just walking off. At least then I could shut her up. _Bitterly, Azula thought back to when the group had learned of their situation and seen just what they'd have to do.

* * *

**_"We have to do what?!" Azula managed to spurt out, as the Captain helped her walk over to the entrance to the stage._**

**_"We have to perform." Mai said again. "Apparently, there's some kind of performance going on today, and they think we're a part of it. That's what that discount was; an employee discount. Hopefully, Ty Lee will say we're on later when she comes back from the stage."_**

_**"What will we do then?" the Captain asked, as Azula glared at him. "Look at me when you ask a question!" the Princess snapped, just before she grimaced and turned her head back to the ground. The Captain wisely moved to the side, as Azula vomited for the second time. Since getting off the ride, Azula had not only been disoriented, but rather nauseous. She'd thrown up as soon as Mai had gotten her back to the ground, and she'd been barely hanging on once Mai had passed her off to the Captain.**_

_**"He didn't ask you, Azula. He asked me." Mai said. "Considering that we can't run in and burn this place to the ground, I think he should've asked me."**_

_**Azula snarled, but before she could say anything, Ty Lee returned. "The announcer says they need us to go on after this guy." The acrobat said. "Apparently the next performer couldn't make it and they need something to fill in the time. Oh, this is like I'm in the circus again!"**_

_**"Yah. The circus." Mai muttered. "Well, we'll just have to deal with it. Ty Lee, you and I will go on first, since Azula needs to rest. Remember that bit we worked out as kids?"**_

_**"Oh goody, the 'Flying Daggers of the Fire Nation!'" Ty Lee chirped happily. A second later though, her face changed into a somewhat reluctant expression. **_

_**"Don't worry, I've gotten better now. I'm not gonna hurt you this time. Besides, it would've been fine if not for that turtle-duck. " Mai assured her.**_

_**"Are you sure? I couldn't use my arm for a week after last time." Ty Lee said.**_

_**"I promise." Mai said, as the announcer suddenly yelled, "Hey kids, you're up."**_

_**"OK. I trust you, Mai." Ty Lee said, as she bounded up the stairs. Mai began to follow, but the turned to check on Azula, as the Captain laid the girl down near the steps. **_

_**"Feeling better?" Mai asked. **_

_**Azula muttered a response, but nodded all the same.**_

_**"Good. We'll go for as long as we can, so you'll have plenty of time to think up an act to do." Mai turned back to the stairs, but before she left, she said, "I'm sure that it'll be perfect."**_

* * *

But as Mai and Ty Lee went through their act, Azula's act was less then perfect. In fact, it was non-existent. Everything that had gone through her mind was either too dangerous, not impressive enough, or simply not entertainment-ready. _All my planning, and I can't even figure out how to entertain a bunch of simpletons. _Azula thought. For a moment, she wondered if she should ask the troops for some suggestions. But she buried that idea within seconds. She was the Fire Nation Princess; there was nothing some lowly troops could suggest that would suit her.

Before Azula could mediate more on the matter, the yell of approval from the crowd broke her concentration. Annoyed, she turned around and looked at the stage. Within seconds, Azula was caught up with the crowd as she watched Mai and Ty Lee. The two of them were doing an act where Mai would hurl daggers at Ty Lee, who flipped through the air and caught them. As Azula watched, Mai drew four daggers from her vest, held two in each hand, and then throw them, one pair at a time, at Ty Lee. As the daggers flew through the air, Ty Lee suddenly flipped over and as the first set of daggers past the space where she had been standing, she came back down, landing on the flat of the daggers and them down onto the stage with her feet. Once she had landed though, the acrobat suddenly did a complete split, and once she was down, she reached up and grabbed the second set of daggers by the hilt as they flew past her.

_Wow, that is impressive. _Azula thought, as Ty Lee got back to her feet and took a bow with Mai. _To think, they got that from a stupid game they did when we were kids….._ Suddenly, inspiration struck, and Azula gasped with amazement at how simple a solution it was. But if it was to work, there was one thing she would need, and she quickly searched the group of performers for one. Thankfully, luck was within the princess once again, as one of the other performers happened to have it. Nodding her acceptance, Azula turned to the captain and said, "Tell that boy over there that we need his drum."

"Very well Princess. But why?" the captain asked.

"Have you ever done the _Agni Ki Tai?_" Azula asked. "It is quite hard to do without a drum."

At that, the Captain nodded and walked over to the performer, just as Mai and Ty Lee walked back down the stairs.

"Are you ready, Azula?" Ty Lee asked, concern in her voice.

"I'm fine. In fact, I got an idea from you two." Azula replied. As she said that, the Captain walked over with the drum in his hand.

"You'll see. Come now, Captain." Azula said, as the two of them walked up on stage, while Mai and Ty Lee watched and waited.

* * *

The crowd watched in anticipation as this girl and her accomplice walked up onto the stage. The Captain sat down near the entrance, and at a signal from Azula, began to beat out a rhythm using the drum. As the drum beats filled the air, Azula stood straight, placed her hands together and took a deep breath, as she readied herself for the task ahead. Finally, she broke apart her hands and began to perform the _Agni Ki Tai-_ the Fire Dance. It was an ancient dance, one that had existed from the earliest days of the Fire Nation, and one that was still performed at all the great ceremonies. Like fire itself, it was a thing of great beauty and great power at the same time. Azula had been taught it as a child for ceremonial purposes, but she hadn't used it in so long, she had almost forgotten it. But Azula's battle training had kept her body limber, and once she had remembered the dance, her sharp mind had remembered the steps quite quickly.

Slowly, Azula began to glide across the stage, her body gently twisting, to represent the early stages of fire. The crowd watched in curious amazement, as the drumbeat began to pick up, moving faster and faster. Azula moved in tandem, her body's movements speeding up. Then Azula reached the stage of the dance where it gained its name. Throwing up her arms, Azula created two whips of flame, that she whirled around in the air as she danced. The audience gasped in amazement and then began to cheer, as they stared in amazement at the dance, as both Azula and the flames spun and twisted.

Finally, the drumming neared its climax and Azula prepared to finish it. Gliding to the back of the stage, she began to spin forward, moving faster and faster, as the flames fanned out around her. Finally, she reached the final spin of the dance, and as the drumbeat reached it's final crescendo, Azula came to a halt, the flames shooting out to the sides in two great and powerful waves. The flames vanished in an instant, but when Azula looked up, the crowd's applause went on for at least five minutes.

Smiling, Azula raised her hands in acknowledgement of the crowd, and then moved back down the stairs, the Captain following. Upon reaching the bottom, Azula was instantly hugged by Ty Lee. "That was amazing, Azula!" the acrobat said earnestly. "I can't believe that you were able to remember that old dance!"

"I have to admit, that was pretty cool." Mai added.

"Of course it was." Azula said smugly. "Once we got into this, I knew that it would work."

Before anyone could say anything to that, the Captain handed the drum back to the performer and said, "Thank you."

"No problem. That was amazing!" The boy said. "Where are you guys from anyway? Seeing the city for the first time?"

"Oh yes." Azula replied, seeing an opportunity. Running a hand through her hair, she said, "I swear, it's just so hard to find our way in this big city though. I can't even remember where we are staying."

"I can probably help with that." The boy said, smiling at Azula. "Where are you guys staying, Manhattan?"

"That's it." Azula said, her voice dripping with naiveté. "But our guide had to go back early, and we just don't know how to get back from here."

"Oh, I can help then." The boy answered. "My aunt and mom are coming in an hour to pick me and my cousin up. There should be more then enough room for us to take you and your friends into the city."

"Oh that would be wonderful." Azula said sweetly, as an all-too-familiar grin spread over her face.


	20. Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam

Chap. 20

Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam….

"I told you it was amazing." Tierra said, as the group exited the main doorway of the Empire State Building.

"Yes, but you didn't say it would be so tall." Sokka muttered, his face still pale from his first view of the top; Sokka's first reaction upon reaching the roof and looking over it had been to stare for about ten seconds, then cry out in surprise and horror, then move back to the wall and cling to it until the group had left.

"How was I supposed to know you had a problem with heights?" the dog asked. "You spent the last few months riding around on a flying bison!"

"Yeah, but I can tell Appa to go down if I want." Sokka replied.

"Hey, I love the ground and the view didn't bother me." Toph replied.

"Yeah well, I'm not like….. oh wait." Sokka said, as he realized just what Toph had said to him.

"How many times is she gonna get you with that one?" Trueno said with a laugh. Sokka just muttered something and looked away.

"Don't worry about it. I even forget she's blind sometimes." The ram said back. He would've said more, but then Trueno took a look around and noticed something. "Where's Zuko and Jin?" he asked aloud.

"That's strange. I saw them come down in those doors from the top." Iroh said.

"They're probably just getting stuck with other stops on the elevator." Agua suggested. "It's a large building after all."

But that theory was shot down a few moments later, when Katara said, "Actually, I think they just had one stop, Agua; the bathroom." And then pointed to the main doors. Everyone turned then to see Zuko groggily making his way out, supported by Jin.

"Zuko, I told you not to look down." Iroh said with a shake of his head as his nephew made his way over.

"I'm guessing this has happened before?" Jin asked.

"Oh yes. Zuko has always had a problem with heights. They make him extremely sick. He's had that problem every since he was little. I remember one time just before a great feast that…."

"They… don't need to hear…. About that Uncle." Zuko said between breaths, as he got back on his own feet. "Besides, I did better this time."

"He did too." Jin added. "He was fine until we got to the ground, then he ran into the bathroom. He stumbled out a minute later and I helped him over here."

"Well, at least Sokka isn't alone anymore." Oscuridad added, gesturing over to the pale-faced Water-Tribesman. "So, any idea what's next?"

Tierra started to answer, but before he could, Hierro popped in. "Actually, I've got something that should be fairly entertaining. After Bosque and I took care of the money, he snuck back to the Square and looked over the ticket booth. Guess what's back in town, _and_ at a discount price?"

"Oh God, please don't tell me we have to see _Cats _again." Luz moaned. "I have never wanted to die as much in my life."

"Hey, I liked it." Agua argued.

"Why am I not surprised to hear that?" Toph said.

"OK, OK, it was a bad choice." Hierro admitted. "But I managed to get something better- _Spamalot!_" the spider said, as he whipped out his arms, tickets in each hand.

"Are you serious?" Aire said, dashing forward and grabbing one of the tickets. "Dear God, I've wanted to see this forever! Finally, I'll be able to put those coconuts to good use!"

"When did you get coconuts? We've been in a much more then temperate zone, the coconuts' subtropical." Oscuridad asked.

"A swallow." The falcon replied.

"Not that I'm horribly uninterested and all, but what is _Spamalot_?" Sokka asked.

"It's a musical that's based off of this…. I guess story is the best word, called _The Holy Grail_. It's written by a comedy troupe called Monty Python, and it's friggin' hilarious." Tierra replied, taking back the role of tour guide. "I can't describe it to you in words, and you probably won't get all of it, but I can promise a good time. Even Toph will enjoy it, because most of the jokes are spoken, not acted."

"Sounds good to me." Aang said. "Where is it playing?"

"Better yet, when is it?" Iroh asked.

"It's maybe twenty blocks from here, and there's a special show starting at three today. What time is it now?" the spider asked, looking at Fuego. Checking the watch, the red man said, "Well, it's about four hours later then when we started, and that was at noon. So, it's about three o'clock I guess."

"Hmmm. And we've got a bit of a distance." Tierra said. "If we want to make it, we'd better start now. Come on, it's this way." The dog said, as he began to walk down the street, Aire bounding towards him in his eagerness.

"Come on guys, before we lose them." Oscuridad said, as he started to walk. The others followed suit, though Jin stayed behind a minute to make sure Zuko was ok.

"You sure that you're ok?" she asked the Fire Prince as he started to walk.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just not terribly happy." Zuko replied.

"Why? This sounds like fun." Jin said.

"It's a play. Back home, I hated going to plays and theatre; it was so stiff and boring."

"Well you're not home now, so maybe this will be different." Jin suggested. "Besides, Aire seemed pretty happy about it and he's a lot like a kid. If it was boring he'd hate it."

"Good point." Zuko added. "And besides, you seem pretty interested."

"Well, I didn't get to a lot of theatre. My parents spent most of their nights working, so I had to entertain myself. It'll be nice to let someone else do it for a change."

_Twenty blocks later………_

"This… had better….. be the …..greatest….play in the world." Jin gasped, as they finally reached the building where the play was taking place and gotten on line after being handed their tickets. The girl's face was drenched in sweat, even the cool weather, and she had been leaning on Zuko for the last five blocks. He had not grown tired; the time traveling with Iroh had given the former prince plenty of endurance.

"Are you ok now?" Zuko asked.

"I will be…. Once I sit down inside." Jin answered. A moment later though, she said, "Chiron, this had better be worth…. Crossing a dimension and walking across a city for."

"It will be." Aire said from the side. "Besides, the exercise is good for you."

"Oh knock it off." Jin replied. "I'm tired, ok?"

"Jin, you just have to look at things positively." The falcon said. "Remember, always look on the bright side of life." Promptly after saying that, the crowd whistled a melody.

"Sorry, I forgot about that." Aire said.

"What was that?" Zuko asked.

"Well, this story has a bit of a cult. You'll be surprised to see some things."

"Such as?" Jin asked. Instead of answering, Aire pointed to a man in the front of the line. The pair looked on at the man who was dressed in a full suit of armor who was simply standing there as if nothing was wrong.

"OK, that might be a little much." Jin said.

"Indeed." Zuko added. "Are there going to be a lot of those?"

Aire shrugged in reply, and turned his attention back to the line. Jin and Zuko did the same, as the line moved quickly and the group got inside the theatre. From there, it was a simple matter of finding their seats, and waiting for the show to start.

Finally, the curtain went up as the music began to play. As the group watched, a man in a suit and tweed jacket walked out onto the stage and over to a large map in the middle of it. Pointing to the landmass in the center, he began to speak, he voice echoing from the rafters.

_England 932 A.D. A Kingdom divided. To the West, the Anglo-Saxons, to the East, the French. Above, nothing but Celts, and some people from Scotland. In Gwynned, Powys, and Dyfed- Plague. In the Kingdoms of Wessex, Sussex, and Essex, and Kent- Plague, with a 50 chance of pestilence and famine coming out of the Northeast and twelve miles per hour. Legend tells us of an extraordinary leader, who arose from the chaos, to unite a troubled kingdom. A man with a vision who gathered Knights together in a Holy Quest. This man was Arthur, King of the Britons. For this was England!_

Just as the man finished, the screen behind him went up and revealed a group of strangely dressed people who began to sing about _Finland. _The Knights laughed hysterically as the performers began to slap each other with fish, while the Avatar Gang looked on in amused curiosity.

"Well, this definitely isn't like the theatre back home." Zuko said.

"Didn't that guy say England?" Toph asked.

"Just wait." Aire replied, as the man came out and said, "I said, _ENGLAND."_ The performers quickly apologized and left, as the scenery changed to the setting of two large castle towers. The sound of hooves could then be heard, as the group anticipated a horse walking out on stage. Instead, they saw a man hopping along and pretending to ride a horse, while another man followed him clapping coconuts together. The Avatar Gang stared and laughed at that, but they laughed harder as the guards in the tower began to ask the man where he'd gotten the coconuts. "Now it makes sense." Katara said, as she giggled.

The play progressed onwards, moving from various scenes. The first depicted a man attempting to add to the annual cart of dead people, even though the addition claimed 'I'm not dead.' To the point where he went into song about it. As the group kept watching, they began to enjoy the play more and more, as they met the voice of God, the Knights Who Say 'Ni', The Black Knight, and all the other lunatics that populated the world of Spamalot. Even Zuko began to laugh after a while, and when the play finally ended, the entire group stood up and gave a standing ovation to the cast.


	21. Old Debts

Chap. 21

Old Debts

"We're Knights of the Round Table, we dance whenever we're able!" Sokka, Aang, and Aire sang, as they walked out of the theatre together. As the rest of group walked out behind them, Zuko rolled his eyes and asked, "How many verses are there to this song again?"

"Does it matter? They've already sung it twice." Hierro replied with a smile. "Besides, you have to admit it's a good song."

"Never mind the song, it was a good, nay excellent play." Iroh said, clapping Hierro on the back. "You did an excellent job selecting a show, my friend."

"Hey, I was the one who got the tickets, you know." Bosque added.

"Of course, of course, you did a fine job as well." Iroh said quickly. "I have never laughed so hard in my life. When that Knight kept fighting and losing his arms…"

"Yeah, I liked that too." Katara added. "It's just a flesh wound.' And then that priest and 'arms for the poor.'"

"Never mind that, what about Herbert and Lancelot?" Luz asked. "Dear lady, I've come to rescue… oh I'm sorry. 'You got my letter!' 'Well, I got _a_ letter.'"

"What did you like, Zuko?" Jin asked, moving over to the former prince. Zuko remained silent for a moment, then said, "The rabbit. Definitely the rabbit."

"True brilliance." Agua agreed. But a moment later, the cat noticed the darkness around them and asked, "Um, does anyone know where we're staying tonight?"

"Wow, we were in there a while." Aang said, noticing the dark himself. "What time is it?"

"Six." Fuego replied, as he consulted the watch. "Agua's right, we need to find someplace to stay soon."

"If nothing else, so we don't freeze to death." Toph muttered, as she hugged herself to keep warm in the now chilly temperatures. Seeing her like this, Oscuridad pulled off his trenchcoat and draped it over the young Earthbender's shoulders. Toph drew the coat tight around her, as the bat turned to Tierra and asked, "So, any ideas?"

"Give me some credit man." The dog replied. "I've had a place picked out since we started. And now we won't have to take the bus to it. We'll be there in about twenty minutes."

"Does this mean more walking?" Iroh asked cautiously.

"'Fraid so." Tierra replied. "Unless you want to take public transportation?"

"Gee what a choice. Take the overcrowded bus, or deal with the New York crazies at night." Bosque muttered.

"Oh come on, how many crazies have we actually run into?" Tierra snapped.

"Well, there's you." The squirrel replied.

Before Tierra could reply, Aang stepped in. "OK, that's enough. I don't really feel like walking in the cold, but I'd like to know something about this 'bus' thing before we travel on it."

"It's like the train into Ba Sing Se." Tierra replied. "Except there are no Earthbenders and it isn't attached to a track. There's a stop at the end of the block, I can check the schedule for us."

"All right. If there's one coming soon, we'll take it. If not, we walk." The young Avatar suggested. Tierra nodded, and turned in the direction of the bus stop. As he walked off, Iroh said, "Well done Aang. You are learning to deal with conflicts quite well."

"Well, it's not that hard. I did help two Earth-tribes put aside their century old feud." Aang said with some pride.

"Yeah, that was a really good lie you told them." Sokka recalled. Iroh instantly raised an eyebrow, as Aang grinned sheepishly. Thankfully, Tierra came back before he had to explain himself.

"Sorry guys, the next bus doesn't come for an hour, and we can be at this place in less time on foot." The dog said as he rejoined the others. There was a group sigh at this, then Katara asked with some weariness, "Which way is it?"

* * *

"See, that wasn't so bad." Tierra said, as the group crossed the last block to the place the dog intended for them.

"S-Speak for y-yourself." Zuko said through chattering teeth. He pulled his borrowed coat closer, as Iroh, Jin, and Toph shivered behind him. While Sokka, Katara, and Aang were used to cold weather, the others were not. The Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation were far more temperate then the South Pole and the freezing New York winter winds bit at them hard. Some of the Knights had volunteered their coats to the group, but they weren't much help. But now that they had reached the building, Zuko and the others felt themselves feel warmer just at the sight of it.

But the Knights had a different reaction. "OK Tier, where is this place?" Oscuridad asked, looking around him and ignoring the building before them.

"Right in front of you." The dog replied.

"Dude, it's a good joke, but we're freezing here." Aire said. "Now where is it?"

"Guys, I'm not joking." Tierra said again. The Knights looked at him, looked at the building, then looked back at him. Finally, Desierto said, "Um, Tier, maybe this is just me here, but….. HAVE YOU LOST YOUR DAMN MIND?"

"Hey calm down. What's the problem?" Aang asked.

"The problem is this moron has brought us to the most expensive hotel in New York!" the wolf shot back. "Tier, we only have about 2,500 dollars left. We can't afford to stay here!"

"What?! We walked all this way for nothing?!" Toph snapped.

"Guys, guys, have some faith." Tierra said soothingly.

"We're going to have to." Oscuridad said angrily. "Tier, I don't know what you're planning, but if you've dragged us here to hypnotize some hotel clerks…"

"Will you just trust me?" Tierra said, as he began to walk up the entrance. The group looked at each other, sighed, and began to follow the dog up and into the building. As the doors slammed shut behind them, the Knights took a minute to enjoy the warmth inside the building. The Avatar Gang however, were too stunned to relish it. They stared in shock at the beautiful inside of the Plaza Hotel. The walls were decorated with beautiful wallpaper and garlands, with holly added for the holidays. The floor beneath their feet was covered with soft carpet, adorned with exquisite details. Everywhere they looked, they saw something that amazed them.

"Is this place a hotel, or a palace?" Zuko wondered aloud, his mind grasping at the thing this place reminded him of most.

"Oh it's a hotel." Trueno answered. "It's a five-star hotel, one of the best in the world and the best in the city."

"If it's that good, how can we afford to stay here?" Jin asked.

"Yeah, even my family seal can't help us here." Toph added.

"I guess that's what he's working on now." Luz said, pointing to Tierra, who was walking over to the reception desk. Seeing him there, the group moved over to the desk themselves, eager to see how Tierra planned to get them rooms.

"May I help you sir?" the concierge asked as Tierra came up.

"Yes, I'd like four rooms please." The dog replied.

"Very good. Do you have a reservation?"

"No."

"All right then, let me look." The concierge said, as he checked the computer. After a moment, he said, "You are in luck sir, we have four rooms up on the third floor that won't be used until January. How long do you plan to stay?"

"Just the night." Tierra replied. The concierge raised an eyebrow at this, but asked, "And how do you plan to be paying, sir?"

"Oh I don't have enough." Tierra answered nonchalantly, as the group gaped behind him.

"Then, may I ask you to leave sir?" the concierge said, rather angrily. "The Plaza is not a charity."

But Tierra just smiled and asked, "Does a Mr. Ronald Brown still work here?"

"Yes, he is our head manager." The concierge replied.

"Call him. Tell him that Eddie Kiedis is here to get some rooms."

"Sir, I can assure you that Mr. Brown will not grant you…."

"Just humor me." Tierra said. The concierge shook his head in disgust, but grabbed the phone and dialed. A moment later, he got a connection. "I'm sorry to bother you Mr. Brown." He said as he spoke. "But there is a Mr. Eddie Kiedis here, who is attempting…"

He paused then, as he listened. The concierge's eyes widened and he said, "But sir…. That's not….. all right sir." Putting the phone down, he turned to Tierra and said, "I will call someone to help you to your rooms, Mr. Kiedis. Is that your party over there?" he asked, as he pointed to the group. The dog nodded, and the concierge moved to call a bellboy. Tierra nodded, then moved back to the others. "So, how'd I do?"

"What was that?" Oscuridad asked, in amazement and disbelief.

"When I lived here, there were some major demon problems at this place. I helped do some exorcisms, and the manager at the time was a man named Ronald Brown. He asked if there was anything he could do to pay me back, and I just asked that I could get rooms here anytime I needed to."

"And 'Eddie Kiedis?'" Toph asked.

"That was my name when I lived here." Tierra replied simply. Before he could go on, the bellboy tapped the dog on the shoulder and said, "Follow me to your rooms please, sirs and madams."


	22. Interlude 4: Manhattan Isle

LORD Big-Doggie, I got this one up for you after reading your review. Hope you like it.

Chap.22

Interlude 4: Manhattan Isle

"Are you guys sure you'll be ok without your interpreter?" the boy asked, as the young girl and her friends exited the mini-van and walked onto the city block.

"Oh don't worry about us." Azula replied, her voice dripping with sincerity. "Our interpreter will be back soon. Besides, you need to get home too, and I don't want us to be any more of a bother."

"Believe me, it's no bother." The boy said from his window, as his eyes became dream-filled. But Azula shook her head and said, "Believe me, you've been enough help. In fact, I think I should give you a little reward." With that, Azula leaned over and gently kissed the boy on the cheek. His eyes went wide, and he collapsed back into his chair a happily moaning mess of goo. His mother took one look at her son, then looked at Azula and said, "Well, if you'll be all right, we'll be going now. Have a good time in the city." Azula nodded and watched as the car sped off into the night.

"Wow Azula, you haven't lost your touch." Ty Lee said, as the Fire Princess moved back with the others.

"Of course not. How do you think I got all my homework done in the Fire Academy?" Azula replied with a smirk. "Now then, we have a more pressing matter to attend to. Captain, what is the status of our funds?"

"I believe we have enough for all of us, Your Highness." The Captain answered, as he held up his money sack. On the way to this spot, the group had combined their finds to see what kind of inn they could afford. Thankfully, they could do rather well for themselves, though it was mainly because of Azula.

"For your sake, I hope so." Azula said. "I do not intend to sleep on the streets tonight. Now come on, it's freezing out here." With that, Azula spun on her heel and walked in the direction of the large glowing sign that said _Holiday Inn._ The rest of the Fire Group followed suit.

Azula pushed through the doorways of the hotel and went straight to the front desk. Seeing the clerk at the desk, she said, "I want three of your best rooms for the night."

"Hmm? Oh sure." The man said, as he moved to check the computer. After a few minutes, he said, "Sorry, no can do. We're booked solid."

"What?!" Azula snapped, as the rest of her group walked in. "There's nothing you can do about it?"

"Sorry, every room is filled. Oh wait, there might be something here." The clerk said, as he looked it over more closely. "It seems that a few people left early today, so I can give you a couple of rooms. How do you plan to pay?"

Azula motioned over to the Captain, who handed her the bag of coins. Azula handed it over to the clerk, who took the bag with a queer expression in his face. Opening it, he looked at the coins and said, "Look kid, I was willing to play along with the weird costumes, but if you don't hand over some real money, you can forget the rooms."

"What are you talking about?" Azula asked angrily. "There's more then enough in there to pay for the rooms."

"Well maybe in China, but this American girly." The man snapped. "So get some American money, or get out. Now leave me alone, I've got work to do." With that, the man started to back away, but then he felt a hand wrap around his neck and push his head to the desk.

"What in the…" he started to say, but then stopped when he saw the flaming hand that was pressed in front of him. "Holy shit!" he breathed, as Azula's voice suddenly rang in his ear.

"Now, will you let us stay, or would you like to see what it will be like to be blind in one eye?" Azula asked, as she began to extend one finger.

"No, no, I'll give you the keys, just let me alone!" the clerk swore, as he tried to back away.

"Good answer." Azula said, as she released her grip on the man's neck. Pulling her hand away, the Fire Princess watched as the clerk instantly reached over and grabbed three different keys.

"H-here, you go mam'." He said as he handed her the keys.

"Thank you." Azula said. "On the house, right?"

"Oh of course." The man replied, as he handed her the bag of money.

"Good. And don't even try to tell anyone." Azula said as she walked away. "Fires have a habit of burning though things so quickly." The resounding gulp from the clerk told Azula she had nothing to fear from him.

"See? My way does work." Azula said, as she walked up to Mai.

"Fine, you got us keys. Now can we get upstairs and warm up?" Mai asked. Azula handed out the keys and the group made their way up the stairs. But Azula lingered a moment, as she watched the clerk tremble under her gaze. Part of her was glad that she could still induce fear even in another world. But a bigger part of her had finally come to a conclusion about something. It was something that had been nagging at her since Coney Island, and now, looking at this man cower before her, she knew it was true. His fear was not like the kind she'd experienced at home; this was the fear of a man who has seen something that he has no way to explain. It was almost like the people at the performance; they had been so amazed by a well-known dance, but only after Azula had begun using her power. As she walked up the stairs to her room, Azula smiled as one thought raced through her mind; _They don't have bending in this world. _


	23. The Battle of NYC: Part 1

Chap. 23

The Battle of NYC Part 1

_The sky was black with smoke and soot as Katara ran through the snow. Behind her, she could hear the crunch of Fire Nation boots as they trampled over it. They had come to the South Pole again, to wipe out the Southern Water Tribe for good. The village was already gone, burned to a ruined husk. Katara had awoken to the screams of her friends and family as they fought and died under the attacks of the soldiers. She'd run out of her home, just in time to see Gran-Gran be engulfed in flame. She'd yelled out in horror, and started to bend water to help her, but when she tried, nothing had happened. Her power had left her. _

_As she'd looked back up, Katara had seen a solider advance on her. She pulled away and begun to run, but not before noticing the boomerang tucked into his belt. It was that more then safety that made her run; these butchers had taken all of her family from her. She had to leave this place that had been her home, but was now a graveyard. But the soldiers of death hadn't let her go. They had begun running after her, meaning to complete their mission._

_Katara remembered all of that, but even those thoughts could not reinvigorate her exhausted body. Despite her fear and horror, Katara began to slow, as her breaths came in hot gasps. The sound of other footsteps became louder and louder, as she fell behind. Finally, she felt a hand wrap around her collar, felt it throw her to the ground. Katara slid on the ground hard, coming to a halt under a pile of snow. She slowly pulled herself and turned to see the soldiers coming towards her, their hands already blazing. _

_But as they advanced on their prey, the soldiers suddenly stopped and looked up. They stopped, and began to back away, as Katara suddenly felt the winds pick up. Glancing towards the sky, she saw a figure descend from the heavens, the winds swirling around him in a huge sphere. The soldiers tried to stop him by shooting their fire, but as it came close to the figure, it vanished against the strength of the winds. The figure touched ground, and looked at the soldiers with glowing eyes, filled with anger. As the winds continued to blow, the figure suddenly crouched and slammed his fists down on the ground. A crack spread out from the impact, moving towards the soldiers. Before they could react, the ground beneath them fell apart, but they did not fall. Instead, the figure moved his arms upwards, and the water underneath rose up and caught them, trapping them in tendrils. As they hung there suspended, the winds around the figure died, and he raised his fists towards them. There was a sudden glow, and then Katara averted her eyes, as the figure released blasts of flame towards the soldiers. There were howls of pain and anguish and then silence. Katara could hear the ground shifting around, and the sound of it closing. But she kept her eyes closed, not wanting to see this great and terrible figure, who was filled with such fearful power, power like the Firebenders._

_But she heard a voice then, a voice of both power and kindness; "It's all right now Katara. Open your eyes." Slowly, the young girl looked up, as she with held the great figure with the glowing eyes. But as she looked, his eyes stopped glowing, and became filled with compassion. "I'll never let them hurt you. You mean too much to me. Even being the Avatar can't stop that." The young boy said, as he stretched out his hand. Smiling, Katara reached out and took Aang's hand in her own…….

* * *

_

It was always at this point that Katara woke up from the dream and this was no exception. The daylight streamed in from the windows, as Katara shook the last of the dream from her mind. Slowly, she threw back the covers and sat up in the bed, being careful not to awaken Agua or Aire and Aang, who lay sleeping in the bed she was on and the one next to it respectively.

_How long has it been? Three weeks since I last had it? _Katara thought. _I thought it was gone. Why did it come back?_ But even in her sleep-addled mind, Katara traced the reason quite easily. Last night, after getting settled in their rooms, Oscuridad had invited the group to the room he, Luz, Sokka, and Iroh shared for dinner and a….. movie, he'd called it. Katara had been confused as to what the bat had meant by a 'really big play in a small box' but after a few minutes of seeing it, Katara had been enthralled. It was called _Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, _and everyone had enjoyed it very much. Even Toph had liked it, thanks to Luz. The fox, having power over all kinds of illumination, had been able to let Toph see through her eyes temporarily, since none of the Knights could permanently heal the girl's blindness. It had involved some explanations on everyone's part, but Toph had been very thankful for the brief allowance of sight, especially during the fight scenes.

However, what had attracted Katara to the film was the relationship between Will Turner and Elizabeth. Katara had always like romance in stories, so it wasn't that surprising, but what really made it appeal to her was how much it reminded her of how she'd found Aang. When Will had washed up next to the ship, Katara had almost instantly been hoping for the young Elizabeth to find him. And as the film progressed, their relationship's progression had been Katara's main concern. Yet the film's ending had a bittersweet feeling for her. She was happy that the two of them had found each other, but it also reminded her of what she would never have with Aang.

_No wonder I had the dream again. _Katara thought sadly, as she looked over at the sleeping Airbender. When Katara had first met Aang, her thoughts had simply concerned bending and what he could teach her, as well as how much fun he was. After finding out he was the Avatar, her thoughts had been towards his safety and his training. As they'd all traveled together, those feelings had grown and changed, but Katara had put it down to the dangers of the journey. But after what had happened with Aunt Wu, Katara had begun to wonder about those feelings, and it was then that she'd started to have the dream. It made sense; Aang was such a good and caring person, and he'd always been able to make her laugh. Despite his immaturities, he was always concerned with helping those around him. And when Katara could help Aang with his problems, she felt incredibly good after it. It was those things, and so much else that had caused Katara's feelings for him.

But all of it was not to be. Katara knew that no matter how much she might care about Aang, he was the Avatar. His life was one of duty and power and keeping the balance. He would never be able to do those things with Katara in his life as his love. He would have to sacrifice so much to be with her, and he would never be happy either way. Katara knew that she would have to make sure Aang never found about her feelings. She could only be his friend, and leave him to his duty as the Avatar. That was why she always woke up at the same point in the dream; the point where all the impossibilities of their love were screaming at her, no matter how happy she seemed.

_Come on Katara, you'd better get ready. He can't see you like this. _Nodding to herself, Katara wiped her eyes and walked to the bathroom to ready herself for the day. But if she had lingered a moment longer, she would have seen Aang turn over in his sleep, caught in his own dream. She would have heard him mutter, "At least once more, Miss Katara."

* * *

Aang and the others awoke a few minutes later, thanks to an wake-up call that Oscuridad had put in place the night before. Thankfully, Katara was able to put her conflicted feelings aside and destroy any possible signs of it when she greeted Aang. The others quickly got ready, and then moved to the elevator, to meet the others in the main dining room of the Plaza for breakfast, and to plan out what time they had left in this world.

"Are you sure I'll like this?" Iroh asked them, as Fuego dropped a few sugar cubes into the old general's coffee.

"Trust me." The red man replied. "It may not be tea, but you put some milk and sugar in this, it'll be great."

Iroh was still reluctant, but took a sip anyway. A second later, he took a deeper drink. "This is excellent!" the old general said with enthusiasm. "Can we bring some back to our world when we leave?"

As Tierra began to answer that question, Luz greeted the others as they came down from their room.

"Sleep well?" the bat asked as they came into the dining room and sat at the table.

"After all those months sleeping on the ground, I'd hope so." Katara replied.

"Yeah, I slept like a baby." Aang said. "Plus, I had this really great dream."

"Oh? What was it about?" Katara asked.

"I'm not sure. You know how dreams are. But I remember it was good. So where's the food?" Aang asked, quickly moving through his response.

"It's over there." Sokka answered, as he ate his own breakfast and pointed to a large table loaded with food. "Just take what you want."

"Sounds good to me." Anag replied as he and Katara got to grab their breakfast, although Agua and Aire had gone there immediately .

"So what are we going to do today?" Sokka asked, as he ate his eggs and the others got their breakfast.

"I'd say at this point, we might want to look for Azula. She still hasn't shown herself, and I'm starting to worry.." Oscuridad replied. "But I'll say more when the others come back. You know how Des gets when we discuss things without him.

"Where is he, anyway?" Zuko asked.

"He likes to work in the morning, so he went to the gym. I imagine he'll be coming in about a half-hour."

But suddenly, Desierto ran into the room, drenched in sweat and out of breath. "We have a new problem." The wolf panted between breaths.

"What is it?" Aang asked.

"She's made her move." The wolf replied.

"Oh crap. Where?" Oscuridad asked.

"It's all over the news. A bunch of strangely dressed men and three teenage girls engaging the NYPD at the Hammerstein Ballroom with incendiary devices."

"Are you sure it's not just some pyros?" Bosque asked.

"No, the descriptions fit Azula and her friends to a T. We've gotta get there before they fry every cop in New York." Desierto said.

"But we don't have that much time left on the watch." Fuego said. "And we don't even know if the portal will open there, or if we have to go back to the alleyway."

"Then we'll need to make this fast." Zuko said, rising to his feet. "How far is this place?"

"Not far, but I think we'll need the express route." The wolf said. "Tier, can your manager friend get us to the roof?"

"Thanks again Ron, I really appreciate this." Tierra said twenty minutes later, as the group stood at the roof of the Plaza.

"Eddie, I've told you, it doesn't matter." Ronald Brown, manager of the hotel, said back. "You saved my life twice with those exorcisms. Besides, you've only asked for anything a couple of times in the last ten years. Where do you go all the time?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." The dog replied. "But I still pay enough attention to watch the Eagles blow all their chances at the Super Bowl."

"Oh, and the Jets do so much better?" Ronald asked with a laugh. "The Jets get whipped more times then the guy who took away your mom's Ring-Dings."

"Hey, it isn't my fault your sister had transgender surgery and decided to imitate Richard Simmons." Tierra said back.

"Hey guys, we're on a deadline here." Bosque yelled from the side.

"Right. Thanks again Ron." Tierra said, as he moved over to the edge of the roof with the others.

"I still don't know about this." Zuko said, as he looked down at the ground again.

"It'll be fine. The winds are great up here." Aang said, as he popped out his glider.

"That's not really helpful, you know." Sokka said, his own fear evident in his voice.

"Are you sure this is the fastest way?" Jin asked.

"Yes. And without Appa, this is all the choice we have. Now hop on." The bat replied.

Sighing, Jin climbed on the back of the armored Shadow Knight, as the others did the same with some of the other Knights. They all looked down once more, and then the Knights jumped. As their passengers screamed, they quckly unfurled their wings and began to fly in the direction of the Hammerstein Ballroom.

Except for one.

"I heard them jump. Shouldn't we follow?" Toph asked Hierro.

"We will, but there's something I've always wanted to try to do. I saw it in a movie." The armored spider replied. Looking out on the horizon, he spotted a large construction crane on the next building over. Nodding, he brought up his upper right hand and pointed it at the crane. Pressing his two middle fingers onto his palm, Hierro shot a length of chain out and saw it wrap around the crane. Releasing it from his wrist, he caught the chain in his hand.

"You holding on tight?" he asked Toph. Seeing the girl nod, the spider breathed in deep, then said, "Tally-ho." Leaping off the roof, Hierro held tight to the chain, as he swing towards, and then past the crane. Once he was past it, the spider shot out another length towards another building and began to solidly 'web-swing' though the city towards his companions and the battle waiting for them.


	24. The Battle of NYC: Part 2

Chap. 24

The Battle of NYC: Part 2

The Hammerstein Ballroom is on of the oldest theatres in New York. Since 1906, it has provided the city with music, sports, and several other events. Inside the walls of the building, events have taken place that were awe-inspiring to those who witnessed them. Some of those events have come from the legendary wrestling promotion ECW, including the long-awaited crowning of Rob Van Dam as the ECW champion. Others have come from various musical groups. But as of this day, the most memorable event concerning the Hammerstein Ballroom will not be an event that took place inside it's walls, but one that occurred outside them…

"This is your last warning! Put your weapons down or we will be forced to open fire!" the Chief of the NYPD yelled through his megaphone at the group that stood in front of the wreckage. The police had received reports of people causing destruction at the Ballroom an hour ago. At first, they had believed the reports of incendiary devices to be of the normal variety, and they had brought the properly equipped 'fire-squad.' But when they had arrived, all they'd seen was a trio of teenage girls, along with a group of men, all dressed in strange red outfits. The Chief's first reaction had been caution mixed with puzzlement; if these people had caused all the damage that now littered the streets, where were their weapons? But when he'd begun the standard police warnings, the girl dressed in dark red armor had raised her hand up and suddenly flame had shot forth from her hand, shot over the cops' heads, and slammed into the nearby building, causing rubble to fall and crush two police cruisers. From there, the officers had drawn their weapons, but the Chief followed procedure and gave a final warning to the group.

But the reaction was not what he'd hoped. The armored girl, seemingly ignorant of the mass of firearms pointed at her, simply walked up and asked the Chief, "Do you rule this city?"

"Excuse me?" the Chief asked in surprise.

"Are you the ruler of this city or not? I don't have time for lengthy explanations." The girl snapped. "I have a lot of things to do here. Now who rules here?"

"Put down your weapons and we'll talk." The Chief replied.

"Talk, and I'll let you live." Was his answer, as the girl brought her hands up again. This time, the fire shot out towards one of the crushed cruisers. Everyone quickly ran out of the way, as the gas in the cruiser caught fire and exploded. As flaming wreckage fall from the sky, the girl lowered her arms and looked at the police with a grim smile of pleasure.

The Chief gulped; despite all he'd dealt with in his time as a cop, something about this different. This girl, who was barely older then the Chief's own daughter, was possessed of a viciousness and self-assurance that was almost scary to behold. Even outnumbered, outgunned, and playing some strange game, she was in control of the situation. Still, the Chief knew he had a job to do, and so he raised the megaphone again. "Who are you? Why do you want to speak with our ruler?" he asked, trying to play along with the girl's game.

"I am Azula, Princess of the Fire Nation." The girl responded. "I want your ruler to demand the immediate surrender of this city. You will bring him here, Captain, or your city will be a burning wasteland."

Azula smiled, as she watched the Chief fidget under her demands. Everything was going exactly as she'd planned the previous night. Come into the city, find an important location, and start causing destruction. It was so simple, and yet so very effective. After all, what did she have to worry about? Without bending, these fools had no real weapons against her. With Mai, Ty Lee, and her soldiers behind her, Azula would take this city from its rulers, and begin to carve herself out an empire for herself.

"I'm waiting, Captain." She snapped, as the Chief brought the megaphone up again.

"We can't bring you our ruler. He's out of town this week. What else do you want?" The Chief replied.

Azula's face darkened at that, as Mai whispered to Ty Lee, "Well, he's about to fry."

"I gave you my demands. You _WILL _obey them! And if you can't, then I will find him myself." Azula snarled, as the air around her began to crackle. The Chief felt the hairs on his body began to stand, but by then it was too late. Azula pushed out her hands and sent forth the lightning towards the Chief. But as the old cop brought up his arms to shield himself, the pavement in front of him suddenly cracked and stretched up, forming itself into a wall that absorbed the shock of the lightning. Realizing he was not dead, the Chief opened his eyes, only to gape in amazement at the shield before him. "It's just one of those days, isn't it?" he said aloud, as he looked up.

But Azula took one look at the pavement, and instantly knew what it meant.

"Earthbending." She whispered to herself. "They're here." She said aloud, turning to face her troops.

"They are? Oh, do you think that the Water-Tribe boy is with them?" Ty Lee asked happily.

"But where are they?" The Captain asked, as he and the other soldiers readied themselves for battle.

"Close by. Be ready." Azula said, as she began to move into a defensive stance. But before she could finish, she felt the air around her begin to crackle again, and she knew that the Thunderer was nearby. There was a crack of thunder, and then a bolt of lighting shot from the sky. But Azula was fast, and managed to create a fire-shield that absorbed much of the impact. Still, she was flung down hard, skidding across the street. Before she could stop herself, Azula felt something step into her path and block her movement. But before she could sit up, Azula felt two sharp blades pushed by her neck, just enough so that any sudden movement would effectively slice her neck. She then heard a voice say, "Hello sister." And saw her brother's scared face come into view.

"Azula!" Ty Lee called out, as she rushed to help her friend. But before she got within a foot of Azula, a huge stream of water suddenly shot out of the sky and wrapped itself around the acrobat and pulled her back. Mai and the soldier moved to help, but then there was a blinding light, and they halted in their tracks, unable to see. At that moment, the rest of the group landed from the skies. Aire and Aang quickly brought the winds to bear and thrust their enemies backward into the wall of the Ballroom, while Katara used her waterstream to hold Ty Lee in place while Hierro pulled himself up on his 'chain-webs' and used his lower arms to shackle the young acrobat as he flipped to the ground.

"Well, that wasn't so bad." Iroh said, as he stepped off of Trueno's back, near the spot where his nephew held Azula in place.

"Speak for yourself." Toph said, as she literally bent down and kissed the ground.

But before anyone could begin to celebrate victory, a young cop suddenly pointed his gun towards the group. "All right! Everybody on the ground, now!"

"It's all right officer." Oscuridad said, holding his armored hands up as he approached the cop. "We're the good guys!"

"That's for me to decide!" the officer yelled back, as he kept his gun on the bat. But before he could fire, the Chief came forward and pushed the man's gun down.

"Dammit Johnson, must you always have an itchy trigger finger?" the Chief snapped. Turning back to the other officers, the Chief yelled, "Keep your guns on the ones that were with the girl, make sure they don't get away!"

Turning back to Oscuirdad, he asked, "So who are you guys supposed to be, the Justice League of Knights, Kids, and an Old Guy?"

"That's actually pretty close." Oscuridad replied. "But don't worry Chief, we aren't here to cause problems. We just want to take the Terrible Trio and their friends back where we all belong."

"And that would be?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." The bat replied, as he turned towards Azula. But the Chef grabbed him and spun him back around.

"Look pal, these punks have been causing major destruction in my city. Now, I want to know what the hell is going on here."

Oscuridad sighed and began to speak, but then Tierra said, "Jim, believe me, this is one of those cases."

The Chief spun around at that voice and seeing Tierra, gasped, "Eddie?"

"Chirron, man, how many exorcisms did you do?" Toph asked in amazement.

"Look Jim, let's talk about this one, ok?" the dog said, as he put his arm around the Chief and led him away. With that out of the way, Oscuridad moved over to where Zuko was holding Azula.

"So Princess, how goes everything?" the bat asked, as he leaned down.

"Why don't you tell Zuko to let me go and I'll show you?" Azula snapped.

"I don't think so. Now listen up. We have two options here. See, we're going home soon. So you and your friends can either give up and wait with us for that to happen, or we can beat the hell out of you and your friends some more and wait then. What do you say?"

"Well, you certainly make an interesting proposal." The Fire Princess sneered. "But I think I have a better idea." With that, Azula suddenly flipped her legs back, knocking them into Zuko's head. Stunned, Zuko released his grip on his swords, allowing Azula to move out of their range. Before Oscuridad could stop her, Azula sent out a fireburst that forced Katara to move, which made her to relinquish her concentration over the water holding Ty Lee. The acrobat fell to the ground, just as Mai and the soldiers got back to their feet.

"See, isn't this a better choice?" Azula asked smugly, as she and her group began to prepare themselves for battle.

* * *

"Oh crap!" the Chief yelled, as he ducked behind what was left of his cruiser.

"Jesus Christ, somebody call for back-up!" he yelled over to a nearby officer, as the sounds of battle began to fill the air.

"Any ideas who sir?" the young cop asked.

"The Army probably wouldn't be a bad start!" the Chief responded.

"Sir, we should open fire!" Lieutenant Johnson yelled over from the side.

"Johnson, this one is out of our hands! Eddie says they can deal with it, so I'm inclined to let them try!" the Chief responded as he went back down under the cruiser. But Johnson didn't. Bending down by the rubble, the young cop pulled his gun and began to search for a target….

* * *

"Come now brother, you can do better then this." Azula taunted, as she dodged Zuko's swords again. "You didn't need a weapon before."

"And I still don't." Zuko answered back, as he threw his broadswords down and leapt at his sister. But Azula ducked that move, which sent Zuko flying into Oscuirdad, who had been preparing for a sneak attack. The two crashed into each other with a huge impact, and fell to the ground.

"Pathetic." Azula sneered, as she began to call the lightning again. But before she could, a staff suddenly was thrust over her head and pulled back against her neck. As Azula gasped under the strain, Jin asked, "Remember me, bitch?"

But the Fire Princess had been trained well, and she quickly bent forward, forcing Jin off. But the young Earth Kingdom girl had been trained too, and she rode the pull and managed to turn in mid-air and land on her feet.

"Not bad, for someone weak enough to like my brother." Azula croaked out as she massaged her throat.

"You have no idea." Jin snarled, as she whirled forward with her staff. But Azula raised her arm, and deflected the blow, though Jin was quick to recover. The Earth Kingdom girl pressed forward for a minute longer, then brought the staff around in a sweeping arc to knock Azula off her feet. The Fire Princess leapt over it, but a t the last second, Jin brought her staff back up, slamming it into Azula's chest and knocking her down. Jin grinned, but before she could take advantage, something poked her in the side and her arms went numb. There was another poke, and then Jin's legs followed, causing her to collapse to the ground.

"Nice try girl." Azula said, as Ty Lee helped her back to her feet. "But you didn't have a chance." With that, Azula's fist ignited and the Fire Princess reared back to deliver the killing blow.

But before Azula could deliver the blow, there was an explosion in the air that caused everyone to stop. The Knights, knowing just what that sound was, began to look around for the source. The Chief looked over, and gaped as he saw Johnson standing with his smoking gun in his hand. The Knights saw it too, and looked over at their friends, praying that they were all right. But before they could see anything, they received their answer in the form of a loud gasp from Azula. Everyone whipped around to see the Fire Princess pointing at Ty Lee in abject horror. It was then that they all saw the shock in the acrobat's eyes, the red stain that was slowing growing over her shirt. Ty Lee saw it then too. She looked down at herself, then slowly raised her head back and looked at Azula. She began to say something as a dribble of blood began to run from her mouth, but then her eyes rolled back into her head, and she fell forward into Azula's arms.

* * *


	25. The Right Thing

Happy belated holidays everyone! I finally got through my presents, sat down, and wrote up the new chapter. Hope you all like it, and I hope no one got socks instead of the new Playstation this year. Of course, I also hope _somebody _got the new Playstation.

Chap. 25

The Right Thing

No one spoke. No one moved. Everyone, from the soldiers to the Avatar Gang to the Knights to the police just stared as Azula held Ty Lee's body in her arms. The princess's face was frozen in shock, as she held Ty Lee close. Azula could feel the girl's lifeblood flow; she could feel it soak into her armor. Yet she did not let go, but only held her friend close. But despite all this, Azula's mind was too sharp to be completely distracted. As she held Ty Lee, her nose picked up the scent of gunpowder, just like the kind used in Fire Nation fireworks. She looked up then, and saw Johnson standing there, his smoking gun pointed at her now.

Johnson stood there confident, as he began to make demands for surrender. But Azula heard nothing; all that filled her mind was a red haze of anger. Gently, she moved Ty Lee so that she could hold her on one arm, then pointed the other at Johnson. Before the officer knew what was happening, Azula shot a blast of blue flame at the man's head. Eyes wide, Johnson stared in horror at the flames, too terrified to move. But the flames did not strike him. Instead, the earth drew up into a shield that the flames splattered harmlessly against. Tierra rose up out of the earth then, his hammer drawn in a defensive stance.

"Fine." Azula snarled, as she began to draw the flame again. But before she could, a pair of cold hands suddenly clamped down on her wrist and forced it down. Azula's head snapped up to see Hierro and Luz standing next to her, the spider's metal hands around her arm.

"Let go of me insect!" the Fire Princess snapped.

"I'm an arachnid. And no." Hierro said. "Not until you calm down."

"Don't tell me what to do!"

"If you don't, we can't save her." Luz answered.

Azula started to say something, but then her eyes went wide at the fox's words. "But, she's…."

"No she isn't." Luz said, as the others began to gather around them. "I'd know if she was. Listen closely, she's still breathing." As the red mist in her mind began to vanish, Azula realized that there was a ragged hitching noise coming from Ty Lee's mouth.

"Can you save her?" Mai asked, as she moved near them.

"Yes. But it will require some work." Hierro said. "We need to remove the bullet from her chest before she can be healed, or it will stay there and could cause more damage."

Mai nodded, and moved to take Ty Lee's body from Azula, but the Princess merely tightened her grip and looked over at the spider.

"Why should I trust you?" Azula asked.

"Because we're your only option." Oscuridad replied from the side. "Because healing her is the right thing to do. And because none of us, Knight or human, have any interest in letting a girl die before her eighteenth birthday."

"He's right Azula." Aang said. "Give us a chance. I don't want to let anybody die if I can help it."

"Listen to them Azula." Iroh added. "They are men and women of great honor. They will keep their vows."

Hierro nodded his agreement, as Azula looked at the group with suspicion. The Elementals and the Avatar Gang had made it quite clear they considered her an enemy. Therefore, they considered Ty Lee an enemy. What kind of logic led someone to help an enemy? If Azula had been in their situation, she would have considered this good luck and finished her enemy off. _This must be a trick. _She thought to herself. _They want to finish the job._ But then the voice of Mai spoke again. **_They're honorable to a fault, remember? If they say they'll heal her they will. Besides, she'll die either way, but you'll regret it forever if you don't even try to help._**

Azula stood quiet a moment longer, then turned back to Hierro and asked, "What do you need?"

"Lay her down on the ground, and give me space." The spider replied, as there was a collective sigh of relief. Nodding, Azula carefully lowered Ty Lee to the ground, with the help of Hierro's extra arms. Once she was down, Hierro and Luz knelt down and began to examine the wound.

"I need a clear view of the hole to start." The spider said. Luz nodded, and extended her Lightblade a few inches as she moved her arm towards the bloody spot where the bullet had entered. Gently, the fox used the blade to cut a large circle of cloth away from Ty Lee's shirt, giving Hierro the view he needed, though every grimaced as the sight of the open wound. But Hierro, moving quickly, placed his upper right hand just above the wound. "I can sense the bullet." He said after a moment.

"Then let me light the way." Luz said. The fox placed her hand on Ty Lee's forehead and as everyone watched, the girl's skin began to glow. Luz concentrated, and the light began to move down Ty Lee's neck and into her chest. It began to glow brighter and brighter, blurring away the image of the shirt, then the skin, until finally, the inside of Ty Lee's chest was illuminated. Sokka promptly vomited at the sight of the internal organs.

With this new view, Hierro said, "It's behind her right lung. Let me get to work." The spider extended a finger on the hand near the entry hole, and as everyone watched, it began to extend itself, growing into a long, narrow metal strand. The strand reached the hole, and then Hierro pushed it through, causing a cry of pain from Ty Lee. Keeping his eyes focused, the spider watched as he wove the stand through Ty Lee's body, being careful to avoid any organ or blood vessels. Finally, the strand twisted around the right lung and reached the bullet. Hierro concentrated, and the strand absorbed the bullet into itself. With that, he carefully withdrew the strand from Ty Lee, and as it reshaped itself into his finger, he placed another hand onto the wound as Luz removed her light.

Hierro's hand began to glow then with a strange yellow light. As everyone watched, a silver liquid began to spread out from it, covering the wound. Within seconds, the liquid vanished, leaving no trace of itself or the wound. It was only then that Ty Lee took a deep breath and opened her eyes. "Did something happen?" she asked aloud.

"Nothing you need to worry about." Mai said, as she took Ty Lee's hand and helped her to her feet.

"Are you sure? I think something important happened; that must be why I can't remember how I got down here." The acrobat responded.

"Like she said, nothing big." Hierro said. "You got a minor injury, but I helped you through it."

"Oh. Thank you then!" Ty Lee said, as she moved over and hugged the spider.

"Uh, sure. No problem." Hierro said, as he awkwardly patted the girl on the back.

"What a day." The Chief muttered to himself, as he moved away, Tierra following. Looking over at the dog, the Chief said, "This is why things are easier when you're not here."

"Yeah, but you have to admit they're more fun." Tierra said. He would have said more, but then Johnson came up behind them.

"Um, sir, I just want to thank you for saving me and…."

"Don't." Tierra said. "I only saved you because I don't want to be responsible for the death of a stupid animal."

"Johnson, give me your gun and your badge. I'm suspending you for refusing a direct order and shooting a minor." The Chief said. "Eddie, I'll leave the rest of this to you." The dog nodded, and turned his attention back to the group. Ty Lee had moved back with Azula and Mai now, and the two sides were looking at each other, unsure of what they should do. _Oh Lord, this probably won't end well._ Tierra thought to himself. _With our luck, Azula will probably fry us, even if we did save Ty Lee. Then again, maybe whatever's good in Zuko is in her too._

But Tierra never got a chance to see if that was the case. A sudden shrill beeping filled the air, and Fuego's eyes went wide as he looked at his wrist. Just as he'd feared, the watch now read _00:00_. "Time's up guys." He whispered aloud.

Before anyone could respond, the watch suddenly flew off the red man's wrist and hung in the air. There was a sudden, blinding flash of light that forced the Chief to shield his eyes, and when it faded, the group was gone.

* * *

"Goddam Firebenders! They took my home, now they've taken my daughter!" Kinjo screamed in a rage, while his wife and son wept behind him. But while Kinjo continued to curse the Firebenders to the heavens, he failed to notice the bursts of light that popped up behind him, until Aia joyfully yelled out, "JIN!" Kinjo whirled around, and saw Jin embracing her mother and brother. His face filled with joy, he ran towards them, and hugged his family.

"Oh thank Chirron, I thought we'd never see you again." Aia wept, as she hugged her daughter.

"I missed you too Mom." Jin said back. Finally, the family broke apart after a few minutes, which Kinjo, after getting over his initial joy asked, "What the hell are you wearing?"

"It's been a big day for her Kinjo." Sokka answered.

"Day? What are you talking about, you were gone for ten min…. YOU!!" Kinjo roared suddenly, as he finally Azula and her friends.. Enraged, he began to charge them, and would have succeeded had it not been for the sudden rumble, and scream of fear from Aia. Kinjo skidded to a halt and whirled around, only to gape and stare with everyone else at the sight before him.

A second opening had appeared in the air. It swirled and changed, as if it was trying to hold back whatever was inside. But it made no difference. The thing inside forced its way through the opening and stood on the ground, roaring in its success. Everyone stared in horror. Everyone, except the Knights. They stared in horror too, but there was something else etched into their faces: a terrible recognition of the creature that stood before them.


	26. We All Fight Together

Chap. 26

"We all fight together, or we all die"

The creature stood in front of the portal, screaming it's horrible roar. Everyone who stared at it remembered the sight for the rest of their days. But when asked to describe it, they were never able to give a complete recollection of its appearance. All they could ever give were strange, conflicting reports; it was so short, yet it towered over them, its skin was every color in the rainbow, yet the sun gleamed off its white skin. It's body seemed to have the shape of a man, but draped in a fluid, watery skin that shifted and changed with each movement. It was a sight that filled them with horror, but everyone found themselves staring at it in wonder.

Everyone except the Knights. A burst of flame suddenly erupted against the creature's shoulder, and it howled in pain. But the attacks kept coming, as Tierra suddenly fire off rocks at the creature, keeping it off balance, while the others added to the battle.

"Keep going! Don't let it get its balance back!" Oscuridad screamed, as he began to fire his own shadowfire at the creature. There was a new element in his voice now, an element that the others had not heard before; pure and undiluted fear. It was that fear that caused the rapid attacks by the bat, which were quite effective. Upon the first touch of the black flame, the creature screamed in utter pain, more then any other attack. But before the creature could recover, bursts of light suddenly bombarded it like arrows, seeming to strike with hundreds at a time. Oscuridad turned to see Luz firing lightwaves at the creature at a ferocious rate, her face a twisted mask anger, broken only by a smile every time the creature screamed.

"Come on, it's on the ropes!" Fuego yelled, as he turned up the flame. "Luz, Osc, get ready!" the red man yelled. But then, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Fuego's face became a mask of horror, as he yelled out, "Zuko, Toph, NO!" But the two benders didn't hear him, and they let loose with their respective elements. It was then that everything changed.

As the two attacks began to move towards the creature, it suddenly turned its attention to them. It suddenly held up its hands, and the fireburst and wave of earth suddenly stopped. But before anyone could wonder why, the earth beneath their feet suddenly bucked and shook, tossing them around like a rampaging horse.

"Toph, what are you doing?!" Katara yelled as she was pushed down and around by the rampaging earth.

"It's not me!" Toph yelled back. Katara started to ask something else, but before she could a word out, the earth suddenly changed into mud that began to absorb her. Katara struggled fiercely against it, but then the mud began to grow hot, as if it was being stoked by flames. As it grew hotter and hotter, Katara screamed as it burned her skin. In moments, those screams were joined.

The creature howled again as it watched its victims. Suddenly, it brought out its arms, and a wave of strange white light began to ooze forth. The light touched a pair of nearby houses, and they vanished into it. The creature howled again, almost in delight at this sight, but then halted. Looking over to the side, it cocked its head. Then, as swiftly as it had appeared, it vanished. The second it did, the ground returned to normal, and the group fell out of it, strangely uninjured.

* * *

Everyone began to pick themselves up, as they looked at in another in confusion. In their time on this earth, they had never heard of or seen bending such as this. It was powerful and dangerous, but at the same time, there seemed to be no real strategy or meaning to the attacks. It was strange and random and chaotic, totally unlike anything that they had ever seen. It was enough of a puzzle to even make them forget their personal rivalries for a brief moment.

"That was fun." Mai gasped, as she took a deep breath.

"What…. was that thing?" Zuko asked, as he helped Katara to her feet. "I've never seen such raw power before."

"Or such madness." Iroh agreed. "There was no strategy to that; simply blind power."

"Its aura was so dark." Ty Lee shivered, and for once no one disagreed. "What do you think, Azula?"

"I don't know." The Fire Princess answered. "But I want to find out. And I think I know who can tell me." With that, she pointed over to where the Elemental Knights had conjugated, arguing loudly about what they had just seen.

* * *

"I don't understand. How did one of them get here?" Aire asked in a panicked voice. "They said we locked them all away. How can there be one here? And how did these people manage to lock it up?"

"Maybe there was one they didn't know about." Hierro suggested. "This is a world of magic; the people here could've found a way. Their ancestors must've locked it in a pocket dimension, and unknowingly used the _Ra-ketah_ to refill the magic. Then when it broke, whatever held it all together went haywire and bounced us through the rift that led us to New York. But does it really matter? We have to stop that damn thing!"

"My thoughts exactly." Luz replied with a growl. "And I think we all know where it's headed." Turning to the group, the fox said, "Aang, call Appa. We've got places to go and we need to get there fast."

"Wait just a minute." Azula snapped suddenly. "I don't give a damn where you need to go; I just want to know what the hell that thing is!"

"Yeah, you guys seem to know about it." Sokka added. Azula looked at him with a quizzical expression, which Sokka returned, realizing he'd just supported the Fire Princess. The Knights looked at each other, unsure of who should speak. Then Oscuirdad, as he always did, came forward and spoke.

"That thing," the bat began. "Is a creature known as a chaos-demon. They've been around since before the dawn of time, populating the nothing that existed before the High-God decided to create the universe. They revealed in the lack of rules and existence then, which allowed them to do and be anything. But then the High-God created the Architects and the elements, and used them to create the universe. The demons were enraged; creation spelled an end to the chaos that they revealed in. They rebelled and fought against the High-God and the Architects. But the order and power of creation proved to be anathema to them, and the High-God was able to lock them away in a pocket dimension, forever keeping them apart from the rest of his creation. But the demons are as much an anathema to creation as it is to them, and they have been able to escape periodically to cause havoc. But they can't hold it, and their effects leave with them; that's why none of you retained any injuries."

"So how did it get here then?" Sokka asked.

"I don't know. It's possible escaped and the people here were able to find some kind of magic that could lock it away in some kind of pocket dimension. That would explain the ceremony; lots of different magics have to be refilled periodically. But that isn't important right now." The bat said. "What is important is that we get after that thing and stop it. Aang, call Appa. It's going to take all of us to stop this thing. And I mean _all _of us." He finished, looking over at Azula and her group as Aang blew the bison-whistle.

"What? Osc, do you really think that's a good idea?" Desierto asked in amazement.

"She's an excellent Firebender, and you know that Elemental power is the only thing that can hurt a chaos demon. Besides her troops and friends are good warriors. We need all the help we can get." The bat replied.

"You do remember that she's, oh I don't know, a complete and total psycho?" Sokka snapped.

"He's right. If you bring her along, we'll be dead before we even find this creature." Zuko added.

"Oh please." Azula sneered. "Do you two really think I care about your little problems? I wouldn't help you if my life depended on it."

"It does." Oscuirdad answered grimly, as he walked over to the Fire Princess. Looking the girl right in the eyes, the bat said, "That thing has the power to change any element of creation it wants; that's how it could disrupt your bending. It hates everything in this world, and the only reason it left us alive is because it sensed an even bigger stronghold of order."

"And what's that?" Mai asked.

"What's requires more order then a small town to operate? And what's close by?"

There was silence a moment, then Jin gasped, and said, "Ba Sing Se. It's going after the city."

"And why should I care about that?" Azula sneered. "Once that city falls, the Earth Kingdom will belong to the Fire Nation. That creature will do us a favor."

"No, it won't." Oscuridad said. "If the demon gets rid of Ba Sing Se, it will wipe it out of existence in every form. No one will remember the city existed. The people inside will die without anyone mourning for them. The land will look like it never supported a city. And once Ba Sing Se is gone, it'll go after the rest of the Earth Kingdom. And then, it will turn its attention to the next largest piece of order in the world: the Fire Nation. And believe me, none of you will be able to stop it Princess, and the rest of the world will fall after that. So understand me when I say this; there are no sides right now. We all fight together, or we all die."

"Why should I believe you?" Azula asked.

"Because I have seen the evil that thing is capable of. But even if you don't believe me, remember this. You interrupted the ceremony and let that thing out, so if I'm not lying, the destruction of the Fire Nation will be on your head. Besides that, we saved your friend's life, so you owe us one. Or do you only do the honorable thing when it suits you?"

Azula's eyes narrowed at this crack at her honor, but before she could reply, Ty Lee stepped forward and said, "I'm in. What do you need me to do?"

"What are you doing?" Azula hissed.

"They're right, Azula." The acrobat replied. "They saved me and now they need help. What else can I do?"

"I never thought I'd say this, but Ty Lee's right." Mai said. "I'm in too."

"As are we." The Captain said suddenly. "The Elemental Knights are sent from the gods, and if they fear this creature then it clearly threatens all that we hold dear. Besides, it is the honorable thing to do given their charity to us."

With that, the Captain, Mai, and the rest of the troops moved over to stand with Ty Lee and the Avatar Gang, while Azula stood fuming.

"Not easy being alone, is it Azula?" Zuko asked mockingly.

"Make your choice. Do something honorable for the first time in your life." Iroh said sternly.

Azula looked at the ground, clenching her fists in anger and frustration. But eventually, she muttered, "Fine. I can't afford to lose any troops to that thing anyway."

"Good, we're all in agreement then." The bat said, just Appa flew over from his holding place. As everyone began to move towards the bison, the bat said, "Don't bother. We're taking a special route."

"Oh no, don't tell me we're flying again." Toph moaned.

"We aren't. Everyone get around me." Oscuirdad said.

"Why?" Ty Lee asked.

"Because he's got a very special route he plans to use." Luz answered roughly. "Now just do it."

The acrobat backed off at that, and quickly did just that. The others quickly moved around the bat, as he brought his hands together and shut his eyes. Suddenly a black circle appeared under the bat's feet and began to spread over the ground, underneath the other's feet.

"What is this stuff?" Katara asked. "It looks like….."

"I thing it's shadow." Aang replied. "Oscuridad is going to send us through it to reach Ba Sing Se."

"Well then he'd better make it a little bigger." Jin said, as she moved away from her father and leapt into the circle. As she touched down, the shadow stretched out and went under her feet as well.

"Jin no!" Kinjo yelled. "This thing is too powerful. Even the Elementals are afraid of it. Stay here with us!"

"Dad, this thing is going to destroy Ba Sing Se. I have to try to help." Jin replied.

"No, he's right." Zuko said. "We're going into something really dangerous here. I don't want you to get hurt."

"And you think I don't want the same for you?" Jin answered back. "You could die fighting this demon, and I am not going to let that happen."  
"Dear Chirron, you are not going to protect that Firebender!" Kinjo screamed. "Get over here now!"

"Jin, please listen to him!" Zuko begged.

But Jin merely looked from her father to Zuko, and then moved across the shadow circle to where Zuko stood. Looking right into his eyes, she suddenly drew him in close and kissed him, as Kinjo literally frothed at the mouth. Finally she pulled away and said to Zuko, "I'm coming." Zuko, half-dazed, just nodded.

"Is that everybody then?" Oscuridad asked. Agua nodded, and with that, the bat began to use the power of the shadows. The circle began to move inwards, and as it moved past the people standing on it, they were turned into shadow and sucked down into the blackness. But despite this, there was still time enough for Jin to move over to Luz and speak with her.

"Luz, can I ask something?" the young girl asked.

"What is it?" the fox asked, in a tight voice.

"Well, what is it about this thing?" Jin asked. "The second you saw it, you became angrier then I've ever seen you. You attacked it like you were ready to rip it's head off, and frankly you're still mad."

Luz gave a brief chuckle, and said, "Remember how I told you an Elemental is partially made up of a deceased human soul?"

Jin nodded, and Luz said, "Well, what do you think killed me?"

Jin gasped, but before she could ask anything else, the shadow passed over her and Luz and the two of them were drawn down into the void. A moment later, the shadow moved to cover Oscuridad and the bat vanished into the blackness he'd created. The last bit of shadow vanished then, leaving Kinjo, Aia, and Hita standing there alone, as the family stared in the direction of Ba Sing Se and began to pray.


	27. The Battle of Ba Sing Se Part 1

Chap. 26

The Battle of Ba Sing Se Part 1

The Royal Palace of Ba Sing Se was located in the exact center of the city's central ring. From this point, one could climb to the roof and overlook the entire city from any direction. The palace had been built this way to symbolize how the rule of the Earth King spread out in all directions, and how all fell under his gaze no matter where they lived.

But for the last decade, the Earth King's rule had not been felt throughout Ba Sing Se, despite the belief of the populace. The power of rulership had belonged to one man, despite his lack of a title. But this fact never bothered Long Feng. Indeed, as he stood on the roof and looked out onto the utopia he had created, he felt immense pride at what he had accomplished. That was the main reason he came up to the roof; whenever he felt troubled, he could look out upon the ordered, peaceful metropolis he had created and feel at peace.

And why shouldn't he? Because of his efforts, Ba Sing Se was free of the plague of war, free of the influences of the other, less deserving nations. Ba Sing Se was forever rich in it's own culture and history, and there were none who would ever destroy that. The people inside had been organized and used to the bets of their abilities. Let the rest of the world fall under it's own weaknesses and failings. Ba Sing Se was strong enough to survive on it's own.

_But the Avatar could destroy it all. _Long Feng thought as he looked out over his city. _That boy and his friends are wildcards. Despite my efforts, there is still a chance that they could disrupt all I have built. They are extremely powerful and clever, and the Avatar and the Knights are beyond measure. Sooner or later, they will try to find a way to contact the Earth King. If he learns how I have been pulling his strings, I will be imprisoned and stripped of rank. I must make sure that does not happen. _

_But to do that, I will need leverage on them. I cannot convince the Earth King that the Avatar or the Knights represent a threat to Ba Sing Se; their legends are too great for that. So I must go after their friends. My best chance may lie with the Earthbender. The Bei Fong family has been looking for their daughter for months. If I can get my hands on her, I can use her as leverage to force the Avatar into silence. It is fortunate that the Dai Li was able to find the information on her and the two Water Tribe children. Now, how can I get my hands on her?_

_  
_But before Long Feng could begin forming his next plan, the ground below his feet suddenly shook. "What on earth are those troops doing?" he cried out, as he struggled to keep his balance. The shaking stopped a moment later, but then began to continue on and off, as it something was punching the building. As Long Feng tried to keep upright, a Dai Li agent suddenly ran up from the roof entrance.

"Sir, Ba Sing Se is under attack!" the agent yelled, as he ran over to his leader.

"What?" Long Feng yelled back. "These attacks are directly against us! How did they get past the walls?"

"Reports just came in sir. Apparently, a huge creature suddenly appeared outside the main wall. Before the troops could attack, it somehow.. walked through the wall. The wall became weakened and eroded after that, and the creature kept walking through the walls, immune to the troops' attacks."

"Don't call it a creature." Long Feng snapped. "This is obviously a new device of the Fire Nation. But Ba Sing Se had prevailed against….."

But Long Feng never got to finish, as another attack suddenly rocked the palace. Long Fend finally lost his balance and stumbled to the side, catching himself just before he went over. But it was then he saw the chaos-demon, as it unleashed its power on the palace. Staring in horror, Long Feng felt a thought go through his mind for the first time in many years; that perhaps, he didn't have the answer this time.

* * *

The creature that stood in front of the palace was not the same one that our heroes and villains had encountered in the village. This creature was much larger, towering over the palace at close to ten stories high. It's appearance had changed as well; it still kept the shape of a man, but now it's body was covered in glistening scales, which glowed with the same strange palate of colors that the group had seen. Four arms sprouted from it's sides, and horn grew from it's had. Yet despite all this, the form seemed strange and watery, as if it could shift and change at any moment.

Not that it truly made a difference. The demon's power was strong, and its attacks on the palace were more devastating then Long Feng realized. The demon was slamming its fists down on the palace grounds, seeming to shake it to pieces. But there was a darker motive to the creature's attacks. Each time it touched the grounds, part of it's chaos seeped into the ground, weakening the very essence of the earth, and the palace itself. If it was not stopped, the entire building would fade away into the nothingness it had been all those millennia ago, when the universe had not yet been formed. And with the loss of the palace, the demon would grow stronger, for another symbol of order and creation would be gone.

But the demon's own power was enough of a menace by itself. Chaos radiated from it in waves, causing madness as it had moved through the city. People's very natures changed in seconds as the creature walked by. Some became the animals their ancestors had once been. Others were driven mad, destroying all around them. But it was not only people; objects were also cursed by the chaos. Buildings, carts, anything and everything came to life or crumbled to dust under the chaos. Those few people that had managed to hold onto themselves were filled with terror and panic and the horrible changes that had riddled their city and their neighbors, and from their chaotic minds, the demon also drew strength.

It was into this madness that a pool of shadow suddenly appeared on the ground. As it grew, strange figures began to grow out of the shadow, looking as if they were extensions of the shadow itself. But after a moment, the shadow began to pull away and its inhabitants regained their true forms. Finally, the shadow was absorbed back into the man who created it, and Oscuridad opened his eyes and looked at the group before him.

"Everybody all right?" the bat asked.

"Is it always that cold?" Toph asked, shivering.

"It is utter shadow; it isn't usually warm." The bat replied.

"I think we're all ok." Aang said, as he looked around. "Although we may be the only things around that fit that description."

"I see what you mean." Sokka said, as he looked around at the madness before them. As the group began to observe it as well, a man dressed in green clothes suddenly ran past them, screaming as several green, round, vegetables hopped after him, with mouths full of razor-sharp teeth. "Cabbages, why have you betrayed me?!" the man screamed as he ran in absolute terror.

"Does that guy seem familiar to you?" Sokka asked. "I could've sworn I've seen him before."

"No, but maybe you can ask him, and have a nice lunch while the city falls apart." Azula sneered. "Honestly, do you always ask such stupid questions?"

"Oh I'm sorry." Sokka snapped back. "I guess I should to ignore everybody that I can't step over to get somewhere, just like you."

"Knock it off you two." Katara said, stepping between them. "We've got bigger problems now. We need to find that thing before it causes more damage."

"I don't think that'll be a problem." Mai said, pointing to the front. Katara turned and gasped, as she saw the huge demon crushing the palace before them. "What happened to it?" Katara gaped as she stared in horrible wonder.

"Chaos-demons change their form constantly." Hierro replied. "Staying in one permanently reflects the influence of creation. The only constant is that glow with their skin."

"But regardless, we need to send that thing back to hell." Oscuridad said. "All right, everybody who can bend, either spread your wings or climb onto somebody who can fly. Elemental power is the only that can hurt this thing, and we need as much firepower as we can muster. Remember, you have to stay absolutely focused on your attacks so that the demon can't corrupt them like at the village."

"Hey what about us?" Sokka asked, gesturing to himself, Mai, Ty Lee, and Jin. "What are we supposed to do?"

"Sorry Sokka, but boomerangs and pressure points aren't much good against this thing." The bat replied. "What I need you four to do is try to contain the chaos here, and get as many people as you can into the next ring of the city. When we kill this thing, there is going to be a backlash, a combustion of seismic, nay, biblical proportions."

"Huh?"

"In layman's terms, it's gonna blow up real good." Agua explained. "That's why we need you to evacuate."

"OK, but shouldn't at least one bender stay with us, since anything really can happen here?" Sokka asked.

"I'll stay." The Captain said suddenly. "There are enough Firebenders already." Turning to his troops, he said, "Men, you hereby under the command of the next highest military figure; General Iroh. Listen to him well, and you may survive this day."

The men nodded, saluted, and turned in the direction of Iroh. The old general was surprised, but quickly recovered. "Men, this battle will test every inch of your mettle. If you are to survive, then you must rely not only on your own strength, but also on the strength of your fellows. Only together, can we defeat this evil. Protect each other, and protect those you fight with. Let the battle be joined!"

"All right then! Everybody, climb on!" Oscuridad yelled, as the benders quickly made their way onto Appa, or onto the back of a now-armored Knight. Once everyone was ready, the bat held his sword high, and cried to the heavens, "VIVA LA RAZA!"

"VIVA LE!"

"For the Fire Nation!"

With those cries in the air, the group launched themselves into battle, the others watching.

* * *

"We cannot hold out!" the General yelled, as the creature unleashed another attack. The guards dodged it, and attempted to use their Earthbending, only to fail under the creature's evil.

"We must!" Long Feng yelled back. "I will not have all that I have worked for be destroyed!"

"The creature is too powerful!" the General insisted. As if to prove, the demon's massive arm suddenly came down and scooped up the General. Long Feng watched as the General struggled against the creature's grasp, only to suddenly scream and literally fade away. The minister of state started in horror at the General's fate, then his fear grew as he realized that the arm was now coming for him.

But before the creature could touch him, there was a crack in the air. Twin bursts of lighting suddenly shot and blasted the creature, which pulled back and howled under the pain of the attacks. Long Feng watched as two beings suddenly circled around the creature, focusing their lighting on it. One was a man, dressed in strange silver armor with wings. The other was the Avatar's bison, and perched on its head was a young girl dressed in red armor and a teenage boy, directing lighting of their own. Long Feng instantly knew who they were; he'd read several reports on them from all over the Earth Kingdom. As the two forces broke off their attacks and circled around, other armored beings and the Avatar himself began to attack, letting loose their own elements onto the creature.

"Keep it up!" Trueno yelled out to the others, as he and Appa moved to the main entrance of the palace. Landing, Azula, Katara, Zuko, and Toph quickly dismounted Appa.

"Uhh, how do you ride that thing?" Azula swore. "It smells like it hasn't bathed in weeks!"

"It has been a while." Trueno said. But before he could continue, the ground rumbled, and suddenly Azula and Zuko were encased in twin pillars of earth. Everyone whirled around to see Long Feng standing there in an Earthbending stance.

"Let her go!" Katara yelled. "We need her help!"

"It wasn't bad enough you had to start talking about the war." Long Feng sneered, as he began to advance on the group. "You had to go to the next level. You had to bring in Firebenders! You probably brought in that creature to destroy my utopia! Well you won't succeed, do you hear me?"

"I think this guy's cheese just slid off his cracker." Toph said, as Long Feng continued to move forward. But before he could take another step, the demon suddenly let out a roar, and swung its arms around, scattering the flyers to the winds. It also brought another arm down on the ground, knocking everyone back and shattering the pillars of earth around Azula and Zuko. The two siblings shot back into two of the supporting arches of the palace, then slumped down. As both sat there stunned, the demon looked down and saw them. Reaching out with its arm, it moved towards the closer of the two, meaning to end their existence right then and there…

Azula slowly opened her eyes, only to see a giant hand reaching for her. Too stunned to move, the Fire Princess nonetheless felt fear fill her as death slowly came near…


	28. The Battle of Ba Sing Se Part 2

_Before I get into the new chapter, I want to address a recent review I received. Now, I'm fully aware that I cannot write a story that everyone in the world likes, nor do I have a problem with that. If you don't like my story, that's fine. However, if you are going to critize another author's work, I would hope that you would follow these simple rules, which I feel all reviewers should follow to help make better writers._

_1. Understand that in fanfiction, authors can can create worlds in which the 'base material' can take different paths. Allow the author to try to make their plot choices interesting before slamming them._

_2. Read the story from start to finish, espically if the story is part of a series. Don't skim and expect to get a clear view of the story._

_3. If you do not like the story and want to convey your thoughts, do so in a constructive manner. Tell the author what you didn't like and how he or she can improve; don't just say it sucks._

_Sorry to bother everyone with this, but this review complained about some of my plot devices as if I was ignorant of the show(i.e. Katara, Sokka, and Zuko as siblings, which I established in the last story). I made it clear that this story is part of a series and full understanding comes by reading them in order, as so many of you loyal readers have been kind enough to do. Worse still, this reviewer offered no kind of constructive criticism, merely a 'I'm sure you can do better.' How can I do that if you don't tell me what to fix? Anyway, I just wanted to get that out, and I thank you all for reading and listening. On with the story!_

Chap. 28

The Battle of Ba Sing Se Part 2

The hand moved forward, it's clawed fingers inches away from Azula. The Fire Princess tried to back away, but with the arch behind her, there was nowhere she could go. Before she could even begin to formulate a plan, the hand suddenly lunged forward. Azula screamed in terror and tried to bring up her arms to protect herself, but there was nothing left for her do. Because just before the hand clamped down on her, something grabbed her and dragged her out of the way, so that the hand clamped down onto nothing. Azula and her rescuer rolled out of the way, coming to a halt just the right of the arm. But the demon was quick, and turned its attention back to them. But this time, a blast of fire sparked across the air and splattered on the demon's hand. It pulled back in pain, and then became focused elsewhere as the attacks from the flyers resumed.

Zuko watched this with interest as he got back to his feet. The battle thus far was an even match. The creature was vulnerable to their attacks, but none of them appeared to be able to deliver a mortal blow. And if they couldn't do that, Ba Sing Se would be gone despite all their best efforts.

_Not if I can help it._ Zuko corrected himself a moment later. No, Zuko had been through too much in this city to allow it to be wiped off the map. Despite all his earlier misgivings, he truly had put roots down in this city. It was here he had found himself after three years of banishment and self-doubt. It was here he had discovered new friends, and new family. And it was here he had found Jin. This creature would never take this city from him, not after all he had received here.

_Still, how are we supposed to kill it?_ He wondered. _The Knights probably have a plan, but what? We can't keep this up forever! _But before Zuko could go any further, he heard a groan from the side and remembered his sister. _I still can't believe I saved her._ He thought to himself as he turned around. _And why didn't she blast the thing herself? She was able to roll away easily enough. _But when Zuko saw his sister and her rescuer, all thoughts of disbelief at his rescue went right out the window.

"Uhh." Azula muttered, as she shook out the cobwebs. Whatever had happened, it had knocked the wind out of her. Still, it was better then being trapped in the demon's clutches. Slowly, Azula began to pull herself up, only to stop when she saw Zuko standing before her.

"What are you doing over there?" she asked. "I thought that you…"

"No it wasn't me." Zuko said, as he pointed to the side. Azula followed his direction, saw her rescuer, gasped and cried out, "YOU?!"

* * *

"Get ready, guys!" Katara cried out from her point, as she drew up the water from the nearby fountains and hurled it at the demon. Stunned, but not truly injured the demon stumbled backwards. Katara brought up another stream of water, prepared to strike again if need be. But thankfully, the others were well prepared. Moving as one, Toph, Tierra, and Long Feng sent a shockwave through the earth, straight at the demon. It stumbled backwards, unable to keep it's balance and after a combined fireburst from Iroh and the Fire Nation soldiers, finally crashed down onto the ground.

Once it was down, Hierro landed and dug all six of his hands through the pavement and began to direct his energies towards the demon. As his power worked through the ground, a mass of huge iron spikes suddenly shot up through the creature's body, impaling in about fifty different places.

The demon howled at the constant presence of the metal invading its body, as Hierro withdrew his hands, leaving the metal intact. As the spider looked over the demon, he heard Toph yell out, "Let's see you get out of that, you stupid monster!"

"Toph, let's not antagonize the creature until it's dying." Tierra said. "Right now, it's just really pissed off."

"Actually you should probably enjoy it now." Long Feng said. "Once this creature is deceased, I do have some plans for you."

"Yeah, we know." The dog snapped back. "But until then, you've got a threat to your whole city to worry about, so let's deal with one thing at a time, shall we?"

"Agreed." Long Feng said. "So, do you have a plan for killing this creature, or what?"

"Actually, yes." Tierra replied, as he pointed up to the sky. Long Feng looked up and saw the forms of Oscuridad and Luz hovering over the creature, waiting to attack.

"Nice plan." The minister replied, as the two Knights drew their weapons and prepared to drive them straight through the monster. "But why them? Certainly the Thunderer would be more effective."

"Oh no, this one is all about them." Tierra replied, as he looked up to watch his siblings strike. But before they could deliver the bow, the two Knights suddenly stopped in mid-air, inches away from the demon.

"Huh? What the hell are they doing?" Tierra swore as he stared in disbelief. "Kill the thing already!" he screamed to them in frustration.

"I don't think they can do that right now." Toph said, pointing to the front. Long Feng and Tierra looked over, and gaped in amazement as they saw people suddenly rushing past the gates and towards the royal palace.

"What—this is unprecedented!" Long Feng cried out as the people began to stream past him. "No civilian is allowed inside the royal palace!"

"I think they are now." Tierra replied. "But why are they coming this way? Osc told the others to get them to the outer ring!"

"We tried, but it didn't work." A familiar voice said from the crowd. Everyone turned to see Ty Lee, Mai, Jin, and the Captain coming towards them.

"What happened?" Tierra asked Jin.

"We got to the gate but it was smashed!" Jin said. "We couldn't get them through."

"The palace is the next largest structure we had available." The Captain explained.

"Dammit. All right, but get them in quick so we can kill this thing." The dog replied. But then Tierra paused a moment, looked over the group and asked, "Weren't there five of you before?"

* * *

"It was YOU?!" Azula cried out again.

"Gee, you're welcome." Sokka snapped, as he got up to his feet. "Are you always so polite to people that save you?"

"Sokka, what are you doing here?" Zuko asked. "I thought Oscuridad sent you to evacuate."

"We ran into a problem." Sokka explained. "The gate to the next ring is demolished; there's no way through. The next best thing is to load everyone into the palace and hope it can withstand the explosion. I came through to try to explain it to Oscuridad, but he was busy. Then I saw what happened to you and Princess here, so I thought I come and help."

"Never thought that a non-bender could be so useful. Not that I blame you; I'd try to save my betters too." Azula said.

"Don't flatter yourself." Sokka answered. "I saved you because of what Oscuridad said; you're a good Firebender and we need all the help we can get. That's it."

"Can you two stop for five minutes so we can deal with the problem at hand?" Zuko snapped, before they could continue what was becoming a rather annoying feud between them.

"Oh what's to worry about?" Azula snapped. "That thing's locked up; it's of no bother to anyone."

"Gee maybe the fact that it actually needs to die?" Sokka snapped back.

"Then go do it yourself. You're supposed to be the great warrior; slaying a monster would do wonders for your rep." Azula replied.

The second those words left her mouth though, Azula heard another howl fill the air. The trio took another look over at the demon to see it writhing around on the ground. As they continued to watch, the creature began to shrink, and as it's body contracted, it pulled itself away from the spikes, it's body reforming as it broke and twisted. The multiple arms folded back into the body, and after a few moments, the demon had achieved a new form. This form was that of a creature that seemed both lupine and spider-like, with four long appendages that stretched out from its sides and a flat, pointed head.

As the Knights and others looked on in amazement at this new form, the demon suddenly leapt in to the air, and with devastating speed, slashed at each of them. Most of the Knights were unprepared for the rapid attack and fell to the ground in pain. Iroh and the soldiers, along with Katara, Toph, and Long Feng also fell. The creature even went after Mai and Ty Lee. Only Aang, Oscuridad, and Luz were swift enough to avoid the attacks. Once all their friends had fallen, the creature looked up at the three remaining heroes, roared its defiance and then began to speed up the stairs of the palace.

"It's going after the building directly!" Luz yelled. "If it can get inside, it can wipe it out just by spreading it's chaos out from the center."

"Aang, go after it!" Oscuridad yelled. "If you go into the Avatar State, you should be able to hold it. We'll take care of the others."

"Right." The young Avatar nodded, and he quickly turned in the direction of the palace. As he glided off, Luz and Oscuridad landed on the ground amid the stunned bodies of their friends.

"Are they ok?" Oscuridad asked.

"Yeah. The demon didn't attack long enough to really hurt them. They'll be fine in a few minutes."

"Good. Then you know what we have to do."

"Right. I was hoping we wouldn't have to. It's so dangerous."

"I know. But this thing is too strong, and this is the best way to kill it. You knew it would have to be us, anyway."

"Right. Let's do it." Luz said, as she stretched forth her hand to her husband. Oscuridad stretched out his own, and grasped hers. For a moment, the opposing energy of light and dark was visible between their clasped hands, and then there was a sudden burst of black and gold light….

* * *

"Everybody ready!" Sokka yelled as he drew his club and boomerang. Azula and Zuko quickly moved next to him, just as the creature leapt over the final step and stood in front of them.

"You're not going anywhere, you ugly….. chaosy…… thing you!" Sokka cried out.

"Oh good job, I'm sure it's terrified now." Azula sneered.

"Will you just shoot it?!" Sokka yelled back.

"Good idea." Zuko agreed, as he sent forth a blast of fire at the demon. But again, the demon used its speed and dodged the attack. Before Azula or Sokka could even turn around, the creature had knocked Zuko to the ground and whipped past them as well. It rebounded off the wall and then slashed back down, knocking the Princess and the Water-Tribesman down. Once all it's foes were down, the demon began to head for the entrance, only to be stopped by the appearance of Aang.

"You're not going anywhere." Aang said, as he retracted his glider, and held out his staff in a defensive position. The demon's response was to roar and attempt to use its speed once again. But this time, Aang flipped over it and shot out an air attack that forced the demon back. The demon rode the attack and managed to remain upright, then lunged at Aang again. The Airbender dodged it again, but this time, the demon managed to scratch Aang on his arm. As they both came to a halt, Aang hissed in pain at the deep cut, then turned back to the creature angrily, his eyes and tattoos beginning to glow.

The demon lunged again, long claws growing out of its hands. Aang responded by slamming down on the earth, creating a huge pillar that caught the creature in mid-air. Before it could respond, Aang rose up on a funnel of air, and blasted the creature outward, right into a second pillar of earth. This time, the Avatar opened the pillar like a cocoon and then shut it directly over the creature, sealing it inside the earth. But even this did not last; within seconds, the pillar exploded, as the creature emerged in a new form. This one was comparable only to that of the legendary Hydra, a serpent with multiple heads. The only difference was the multiple clawed arms that grew out from the creature's sides. As the empowered Avatar prepared another attack, the creature suddenly sent out its arms in a massive wave. But the Avatar was prepared and began to send out concentrated airbursts that slice the arms into pieces. Nevertheless, there were simply too many arms to completely cut, and two of them managed to reach Aang, their claws ready to slice.

Before they could reach him however, there was a burst of energy that disintegrated the hands, and left two burning stumps in their place. The demon roared in absolute agony, as both it and the Avatar turned to see what had attacked. Zuko and the others were also beginning to pull themselves back up, and when they saw the attacker, they gaped in utter amazement. The attacker was a being that stood eight feet tall. It wore white robes and armor and carried a glowing white staff. A leather mask covered the upper part of its feminine face, and honey-blond hair spilled down it's back, right by its large, feathery wing.

But it was also dressed in tattered black robes and pieces of black armor, with blue scaly skin appearing in the bare spots. A leather mask covered its lower face, while it's red demon eye blazed forth from its scaled face. Black hair spilled down it's back, right past its leathery bat wing. It held a sword that blazed with black flame in its right hand. This creature, that seemed to be two, was literally split down the middle, it's right half black and demonic, it's left white and angelic. And yet despite this, there was no sense of confusion from it, like there was from the chaos demon. Even though it appeared to be as disordered as that demon, the more the group looked at it, the more this creature seemed…. Right, as if it was an ordered opposite to the madness of the chaos demon.

"What in Darya's name is that thing?" Azula breathed, her amazement not overtaking her curiosity. As if it heard her, the creature raised its weapons, and spoke in a voice like a man and a woman speaking together in unison.

"We are all that is and all that will be. We are the primal forces of creation. We are Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. We are angel and demon, male and female, light and dark, together as one ultimate power. We are the Almagan!"

* * *


	29. The Battle of Ba Sing Se Part 3

Chap. 29

The Battle of Ba Sing Se Part 3

"Do you see what I see?" Katara asked from the base of the palace steps, as she and the others got up and looked upon the glowing figure that stood at the top, ready to fight the chaos-demon.

"Indeed I do." Iroh replied, as he watched in awe. "But I am at a bit of loss to describe it."

"You mean you've never heard of it in any legends?" the Water-Tribe girl asked.

"No, nothing like this." Iroh answered. "The legends always stated that Light and Dark were complete opposites, and that their power could never be joined as one."

"Which is why you can't believe everything you hear." Hierro said, as he got up behind them. "It used to be that Light and Dark couldn't be combined, but Osc and Luz found a way to do it a couple years ago. They used their love and determination to save someone they both cared about to create the Almagan."

"Wait, if that's the case," Katara said. "then that thing…"

"Is the two of them, combined into one ultimate being, one that comes from both ends of the spectrum of good and evil. It's the greatest power that we Elementals have, and it's the one that we've been waiting to unleash today."

"What do you mean?" Toph asked. "You mean they could've done this at any time? Why the hell didn't they?"

"Because the Almagan is a creature of tremendous power that continually tries to break apart." The spider replied. "It takes all of Osc and Luz's concentration to hold it together, and if it was to be broken, then the powers of Light and Dark would spill out into the worlds, unchecked and uncontrollable."

"OK, good answer." Toph replied. "But then why are we just standing here? We've got to get up there and help!"

"True, but the Almagan must be the one that strikes the final blow." Trueno said. "Only the combination of light and dark can kill a chaos demon. All our efforts have been to weaken or immobilize the demon."

"So why didn't you tell us that before?" Toph snapped.

"So that we would fight harder to bring it down." Iroh replied. "Very shrewd."

"We thought it wouldn't make much difference; we'd just make sure that Luz and Osc, either separately or together, killed it." Desierto replied. "But that doesn't mean we can't give them a hand. Let's ride!"

"Just what I wanted to hear." Toph said gleefully. Moving out her hands, the young girl quickly created a platform of earth under her feet. Bringing it up, she said, "Earthbender express, all aboard."

"Wait, where are the Jin and the civilians and Azula's friends?" Katara asked as she looked around.

"It's all right." Agua said as Iroh, the Firebenders, Long Feng, and the other Knights hopped on. "I saw them lead the last of the civilians into the palace before the demon took us down. They'll be safe now that they're inside. Now come on, let's go send that thing back into it's own dimension. Or hell, whichever comes first." Reassured, Katara hopped onto the platform, just as Toph sent it up the stairway to the top.

* * *

"This is a good thing, right?" Sokka asked, as he, Zuko, and Azula stared at the Almagan. Aang hovered by his allies, still in the Avatar State, as the demon cowered before the Almagan's presence. The demon could barely even look at it; it was as if the being had some powerful aura that caused the demon pain. Yet still, Sokka was suspicious; apparently, all powerful-beings appearing out of nowhere still irked him.

"Believe us Sokka, this is a very good thing." The Almagan replied. "We are the only ones possessed of the power needed to kill this monstrosity."

"Right, and you just happen to appear out of nowhere?" Azula sneered, as she ignited her fists. "How do we know you're on our side?"

"Do you not remember what we told you before this started?" The Almagan asked. "There are no sides. We all fight together, or we all die?"

"What are you talking about? You didn't say that, the bat-Knight did." Azula said, still not convinced.

But Zuko apparently had heard all he needed to hear. "Put them down, Azula." The former prince said, as he sidestepped in front of his sister. Azula glared at him, but Zuko glared back, his face set in stone. After a moment, Azula relented and doused her fists. Turning back to the Almagan, Zuko looked at it, and asked quizzically, "Oscuridad?"

"And Luz as well." The being replied. "Only through the Knights of Light and Dark becoming one can we be summoned."

"Whoa. How long have you guys been able to do this?" Sokka gasped in amazement as he looked at this being that until recently, had been two of his friends.

"A few years. But we could not be summoned until the time was right; when the creature was at it's most desperate, and all other attempts had failed."

"And why's that? Didn't want to get your hands dirty?" Azula asked smugly.

Before the being could reply, there was a sudden burst of powerful winds that all but knocked the foursome off the ground. But the Almagan dug its sword into the ground and stretched forth its wings to block the winds from its friends. As the trio was pushed into the folds of the being's wings, Sokka yelled, "Aang, what are you doing?"

"I believe he's trying to stop that thing." Azula yelled back. Pointing skyward, she directed everyone's attention to where Aang was crisscrossing through the air, locked in battle with what looked like a large white dragon, it's body covered in sharp ridges.

"The demon must've shifted forms while we spoke." The Almagan said. "The sky was the best place for it to escape the pain of our presence." As the being spoke those words, the demon suddenly lunged forward at the Avatar. Aang quickly dodged it, but not before the creature twisted around and clamped it's mouth around his leg. Angrily, Aang tried to beat it away, but the creature merely tightened its grip. As it's teeth managed to break through his boot and into the skin, Aang screamed in wordless pain.

But as he screamed, he still managed to slam the creature with an air blast. Unprepared for the attack, the demon was forced to relinquish its grip as it twisted back in the air. But the damage had already been done, as Aang cradled his bleeding leg, as the creature regained it's balance and turned to face it's prey again.

* * *

"Oh man, I never thought anything could hurt him like that in the Avatar State." Sokka moaned as he watched the battle with baited breath.

"Sadly, the demon can do far worse then that." The Almagan said. "Though he has the power of the elements, Aang does not possess the power needed to kill the creature. We must go aid him."

The Almagan moved back and spread it's wings, ready to leap into the fray. But before it could take off, a rumbling shook the ground as Toph's platform reached them.

"What's going on? Where's the demon?" Iroh asked, as the platform sank back into the ground.

"Where's Aang?" Katara asked.

"Both of them are up there." Zuko answered, as he pointed to the battle.

"The Avatar needs our help if he is to survive the battle. Stand back!" The Almagan said, as it prepared to take flight again. But before it could fly, Toph said, "Wait a minute. If Twinkle-Toes is going to fight that thing, then he needs a little more help then what you can give him. Listen up…."

* * *

The demon shot towards Aang again, it's mouth open and ready to bite. The Avatar moved quickly and set up a series of air blasts to through the demon off balance. But the creature snuck its serpentine body past each blasts and inched closer and closer to the Avatar. Aang tried to move away, but the second he shifted his injured leg, the pain shot up his body and froze him in place, just as the demon's jaws reached his head.

But before they could snap shut, the demon suddenly let out a yelp and flew backwards through the air, as the Almagan grabbed its tail and pulled with all its strength. The demon whipped over the being, and then finally came to a halt as the Almagan released its grip. The being flapped it's wings and quickly moved over to the hovering form of Aang, who looked at it with a quizzical look.

"We have come to aid you, Aang." The Almagan said, as it held out its angel hand. "And we have brought help from below." The Avatar looked at the being's palm, saw what covered it, and smiled as the demon roared and began to charge them. The two living legends looked at each other briefly, then quickly went to work. The Almagan moved to hover in front of Aang; upon seeing it's foe, the creature quickly halted, and attempted to pull back. But from behind, Aang manipulated the earth that Toph had placed within the Almagan's robes and shot it out towards the demon.

Within seconds, the creature was encased in solid rock, but it instantly began to change form. The Almagan had no intention of allowing it to finish, and bringing it's weapons together, shot a concentrated burst of light and dark at the creature. It howled and writhed in agony as the two energies passed through it, and then it finally began to fall to the ground.

* * *

"Everybody out of the way!" Zuko yelled, as the body of the demon fell from the sky. The group quickly scattered, as the huge body hit the ground with a thud, sending a shockwave through the earth. For a second, it sprang up on reflex, then sank back down, it's body no longer white, but blackened and burned.

"Is it dead?" Toph asked, as they slowly began to approach the demon.

"No." said a voice from above, as Aang and the Almagan hovered down. As he came down, the glow left Aang's eyes as he regained his normal state of being. They touched down, and the young Airbender grimaced as his injured leg touched ground.

"Aang, you're hurt!" Katara cried out, as she moved towards him, waterskin in hand.

"No, I'm all right Katara." Aang insisted. But Katara heard none of it, as she quickly applied the water to Aang's leg and began the healing process. Within seconds, the wound was gone.

"Um, I'm glad Aang's ok, but shouldn't we be more concerned with the monster here that supposedly isn't dead?" Sokka asked.

"Good point." Aire said, as he looked up at the Almagan. The being nodded, then said, "There is only one way to truly kill this creature. It must be filled with the energies of light and dark, the same that exist inside all living creatures."

With that, the being moved towards the limp form of the chaos demon. Raising both its weapons, it suddenly drove them both down, through the body of the creature. It awoke, and howled in pain, as the sword and staff began to glow. As everyone watched, the glow from the weapons began to spread through the creature, as it began to glow black and gold.

"We should get going now." Agua said, as he began to back away from the scene. For a moment, everyone was puzzled as to why, but then they remembered what the Knights had said about how the creature would die, and they began to run. Except for one of them.

"What is this? What's going to happen?" Long Feng yelled, as the group ran towards the palace. Trueno paused, then turned back to the minister and said, "It's gonna go boom. We need to get to cover."

Long Feng's eyes widened, and he quickly began to run. As he ran, he turned to the ram and said, "I know a place where we can go. It is a secret hiding place inside the palace that was built for emergencies. The Earth King was taken there when the creature attacked."

"If it can survive an explosion, then it sounds perfect." Truneo said, as they rejoined the others. "Guys, he's got a hiding spot we can use." The ram said. Despite mistrusting looks, the others knew that they had few options. "Lead the way." Aang said to Long Feng. The minister nodded, and headed for the throne room. The others followed, as the minister entered and moved to a spot near the throne. Pushing a hidden button, Long Feng caused the throne to fall away and an elevator to come up.

"It's pretty small." Agua said. "We'll have to take it one at a time."

"Actually, I have a better way." Long Feng replied. Suddenly, he whirled around and the earth suddenly rose up and pushed the group back. "As I was saying." The minister said, as he stopped into the elevator, "I know a better way; only use it once." With that, the minister suddenly smashed the button, and the elevator descended down.

"You son of a bitch!" Tierra yelled, as he and Sokka leapt up onto the dais and began pounding on the space where the elevator had been.

"Hierro, bring it back up." Iroh said. "It's metal, you should be able to manipulate it."

"There's no time." The spider replied. "At the rate the Almagan works, the demon will blow at any second."

* * *

Hierro was right. At that moment, the Almagan was pouring the last of its power into the demon. The creature was perfectly split in black and gold. In another second, it would be full, and unable to contain the conflicting energies like the Almagan could. The being took one more look over at the palace, and hoped that his friends were safe, then concentrated and put the last of the energy in.

* * *

Before anyone could say anything, there was a tremendous bang from outside. "Shit! Everyone, get around me and Toph!" Tierra yelled, as he leapt next to the Earthbender. As everyone quickly moved in close, the two of them began to bring the earth around up into a huge round shield. Within seconds, everyone was enclosed inside it.

"Will this keep us safe?" Zuko asked inside the darkness of the sphere.

"It should." Tierra said. But there was a tremor of uncertainty in the dog's voice. Zuko quietly began to pray to Darya that he, Jin, and their friends would survive this as the others prayed to their own gods. He even prayed for his sister for the first time in years. But despite all this praying, he heard it when Katara yelled, "Sokka's not here!"

* * *

"Come on!" Sokka yelled, as he struggled to pull his boot from the crease where the elevator met the floor. He kept trying, but as he did, he felt the rumble of the explosion come closer and closer. Sokka began to panic and pull harder and harder, though he gained no ground. But then, just before it hit, Sokka felt a pair of hands wrap around him, and pull him back and out of the crease. Before he could view his rescuer, that person flipped him over, then sheltered him with his or her body, while pulling throne down on them for more shelter. Then the shockwave hit.

* * *

The people of Ba Sing Se looked on in horror as the explosion rocked the Royal Palace. As they looked on, they saw the entrance collapse under its weight and fall to the ground, crushing the stairs. They saw the front walls of the palace crack, and sections of it fall away under the stress. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the explosion ended, and the people saw the Palace, looking as thought it had been hit by a gigantic wrecking ball; broken and falling in on itself. Some of the people wept, while others offered silent prayers for their King and his allies, for none could have survived that kind of blast. No one at all. 


	30. Awakening

Chap. 30

Awakening

The explosion shook the palace at every level. The front had already crumbled, but the entire palace trembled, as if in the hands of an angry giant. The great banner of the Earth Kingdom fell from its place above the top of the front wall. The rumblings and collapsing seemed to go on for days. But finally, the explosion ended, and the palace stood still, albeit in ruins.

"I think it's over." Jin said, as silence replaced the rumble of the earth.

"Are you sure?" Mai asked. "I really don't want to walk back up into a living bomb."

"No she's right. Even I don't feel anything anymore." An old man replied from the crowd of civilians.

"You're an Earthbender, right?" Mai asked.

The old man nodded, and the young girl said, "Well all right. Then let's get out of this place. The smell is starting to kill me."

"Oh, follow me! I remember the way out!" Ty Lee said gleefully, as she bounded through the caverns and back onto the pathway. As she hopped along, she said, "This place is so nice and homey! I wish we didn't have to go. We could stay down here forever with the happy spiders and rats."

"Is she always like this?" Jin whispered as she, Mai, and the Captain followed the acrobat.

"You have no idea." Mai answered.

"At least she couldn't capture one to be her pet this time." The Captain said. "We still haven't cleaning the ship's quarters since she brought that rhinadillo onboard. I still want to know what she fed it."

Jin grimaced at that thought, but kept walking, hoping to get out of the caverns just as much as Mai did. After evacuating the civilians into the palace, the foursome had attempted to bring them down into the lower levels, which would've provided much more protection then the upper level. However, upon reaching the lower levels, one of the civilians, an Earthbender, had said that the ground under his feet felt hollow. After a few minutes of searching, someone had found a trapdoor that lead down into underground caverns. Everyone had quickly moved into the caverns and they had been down there when the chaos-demon had detonated. The caverns had shook, but no one had been injured, and now that the threat was over, it was time to see what had happened above ground.

"Here we are!" Ty Lee said, as the group reached the trapdoor that had lead them down here in the first place. Moving over to it, the acrobat grabbed the handle and attempted to push it open, but stopped after a few seconds.

"What's wrong?" Mai asked.

"It's too heavy. I can't push it open." Ty Lee replied.

"There's probably some wreckage on it. Maybe it if we all push together." Jin suggested. The others nodded, and moving under the trapdoor, they all pressed against it, but no avail.

"It was a good idea, milady, but it appears we will have to find another way." The Captain said. But Jin wasn't done yet. Looking over the metal framework of the door, she said, "Can you heat up the metal?"

"Yes milady, but what good will that do?"

"Just trust me." Jin said. "But back up a bit before you do it."

Shrugging, the Captain did as he was asked, and sent out a thin sliver of flame the traced around the metal of the door. After a few minutes, the metal framework glowed red hot.

"OK, now watch." Jin said. The other watched raised eyebrows, but watched all the same. Suddenly, the door creaked and came down a little bit, then with a snap, it cracked off it's hinges and fell to the ground, bringing a mass of debris along with it. Still, when the dust had cleared, there was still more then enough room for the group to make it to the now open door.

"Come on, let's go." Jin said, as she started to move towards the door.

"How did you know that would work?" Ty Lee asked in amazement.

"Easy. Metal expands when it's hot. I figured it would weaken the door enough to let us pass."

"Nice." Mai said admiringly, as they made their way out.

* * *

After the darkness of the caves, the bright outside light was blinding to the group. After a few minutes, their eyes adjusted and they were able to see again. But when they could, they wished they were blind again. 

"Holy…." Mai whispered, as she looked over the destruction of the Palace.

"Even when General Iroh invaded the city, there was not destruction such as this." The Captain said in shocked horror.

Jin just looked around in stunned silence. Ever since she had left her home for Ba Sing Se, the Palace had always seemed like the ultimate stronghold, one that could never be breached. And now it lay before her in ruins. It was just unbelievable. The Palace was supposed to be one of those great, immortal symbols, like the Avatar or …..

"Oh Chirron, the others! They were still up here!" Jin cried out. "We've got to try to find them."

"I don't think we'll need to search for long." The Captain said, pointing to a room in front of them. Jin looked over and saw what appeared to be a large ball of stone that had been split right in half. "Tierra…. Come on!" Jin yelled, as she ran towards the room. As the others started to follow, one thought ran through Jin's mind; what had happened to Zuko?

They entered the room and found it to be in as much a shambles as the rest of the palace. But worse still, they could see their friends buried within the rubble all around them. Moving quickly, they began to dig people out of the rubble.

"Are you all right?" The Captain asked, as he dragged Fuego out.

"Uhh… are we dead?" the red man asked.

"I don't think so."

"Oh. OK then." Fuego replied. He shakily got to his feet, just as Jin found Zuko in the debris. Frantically, she began to dig him out, and eventually uncovered a boy with bruises and cuts all over, but one who was alive.

"Oh thank Chirron! Can you stand?" Jin asked.

"I don't think so." Zuko said with a grimace.

"Oh no, where are you hurt?"

"My leg. You're kneeling on it." Zuko replied.

"Oh. Sorry." Jin said sheepishly, as she moved and helped Zuko to his feet.

"How on earth did you survive that?" she asked.

"Tierra and Toph's shield. It didn't survive the explosion, but it must've got us through the worst of it." Zuko replied. "So, this is what it feels like to help save a city." He said after a brief pause. "Feels good."

"Yeah. Now come on hero, you earned a reward." Jin said, as she leaned forward and kissed Zuko deeply. The former prince returned the embrace, but it was broken apart a moment later when Katara yelled out, "Wait, Sokka! Where's Sokka?!"

"Hey! Over here!" a voice yelled from by the collapsed throne. Everyone turned to see a familiar hand stretching out from under the wreckage surrounding the throne.

"Sokka! Hang on!" Katara yelled as she and Aang ran over to help. But before they got to within three feet of the wreckage, the throne suddenly flipped over of it's own accord. Everyone took a step back as a figure rose from the wreckage, shook the debris from it's hair, then reached back in and pulled Sokka out. The young boy shook his head to clear the cobwebs, and then turned to meet his rescuer. Upon seeing the figure however, his mouth dropped, and he cried out, "YOU?!"

"What? Did you think that your baby sister saved you?" Azula snapped, as she dug herself out of the wreckage.

"Um, well,…" Sokka stammered, unable to put the right words together.

"I think what Sokka is trying to say, is that he, like us, is just a little surprised that you would make the effort to save him." Katara translated.

"Hmph. Don't flatter yourself." Azula said, looking down at Sokka. "I owed you, and I refuse to be indebted to you for any longer then I have to. I saw you struck in the grate, smooth move by the way, and saw a chance to end my debt. That's all."

"Um, ok. Thanks I guess." Sokka said, as he got up out of the wreckage. Azula rolled her eyes, but accepted the thanks. Before anyone could say anything else though, the sound of footsteps suddenly filled the air. Everyone turned expecting perhaps Long Feng and the Dai Li, but instead, two figure dragged themselves into the room. Their black and gold garments were singed and torn, and they both stank of smoke, but they were alive.

"Good news everyone." Oscuridad said as he leaned against the wall. "It's dead."

"It wasn't easy, but we killed it." Luz added.

"Good job guys." Trueno said. "I knew you could do it."

"Yeah, great job." Toph said. "But could you hold off on the explosion next time?"

"I must admit, you did well." Azula grudgingly added.

"Thanks Princess." Oscuridad said. "Hearing it from you makes it all worthwhile."

"Indeed." Luz replied. "And don't worry Toph; next time we save the world, we'll try to do it quietly. But you know, that was kinda fun Osc."

"Yeah. We should try to do that more often." Oscuridad replied. They were both silent a moment, then the bat said, "I'm gonna pass out now."

"Me too." Luz added. With that, both their eyes rolled back in their heads, and they began to fall forward, and would've hit the ground, had Agua and Bosque not moved forward and caught them.

"Are they ok?" Jin asked.

"They're fine." Bosque answered as he and Agua dragged their unconscious siblings to the wall and leaned them up against it. "This is exactly what happened the last time we dealt with a chaos demon."

"In fact, I think they said exactly the same thing before they passed out then." Agua added.

"Really? That's quite fascinating." A voice said from behind. "But I don't think it really means anything."

Everyone turned to see Long Feng and the Dai Li standing before them. But in their midst was a bookish looking man, dressed in robes of finest silk that were dyed in the colors of the Earth Kingdom. A large pendant with the symbol of the Kingdom hung from his neck. Before Long Feng even spoke, the group knew who stood before them.

"You see Your Highness, it is as I told you." Long Feng said. "These are the ones who brought that creature into our city. These renegade Firebenders and their band of traitors have attempted to destroy us, but my planning allowed us to be saved!"

"You lying bastard!" Desierto snarled. "We killed that thing, and then you left us here to die!"

"You dare accuse me of lies, monster?" Long Feng snapped. But before he could say anything else, the Earth King stepped forward and looked at the so-called 'traitors.'

"I know of you." He said after a moment. "I read about you in my youth. Those tattoos… an Airbender. No, the Avatar! And those creatures…. The Elemental Knights!" Turning back to his trusted minister, the King asked, "Long Feng, are you sure that it was these very people who brought about that creature? The Avatar and the Knights have long been known as paragons of good. Surely they would not unleash such evil, nor would they work with those who had."

"I know it seems confusing my King." Long Feng said smoothly. "But things are not as they seem. The Avatar and Knights have aligned with the Firebenders, and unleashed that creature to bend us to their will. They wish to force us into their world order."

"But that doesn't make sense." The King argued. "It goes against everything that they teach."

"You must trust me, my King." Long Feng said. "I have always stood by you. Remember what I did for you at Lake Laogai?"

At those words, the King stiffened suddenly. Looking at the group he said, "I am sorry, but Long Feng is right. You may not have brought that creature here, but I can at least believe you were involved somehow. I will imprison you until I can make my decision. Dai Li."

With that, the secret police began to move towards the group. But when they extended their hands to trap their foes, nothing happened.

"Feng, you really should've prepared for me." Tierra said with a smile. Before either Long Feng or the Dai Li could react, the earth below them suddenly spiraled up and trapped them inside it. They struggled against, trying to free themselves, but with Tierra restricting their bending, they were effectively trapped.

"Now then your Highness." Iroh said, looking towards the King. "I implore you to trust us. Despite what you have been told, we are not your enemies today. Long Feng has been manipulating you, forcing you to turn your back on the world. We have come to open your eyes."

"But… Long Feng….. has been loyal." The King insisted, bringing a hand up to his temple suddenly, as if he was in pain. "He has…. Never lied to me."

"What is wrong with him?" Katara asked. "It's like he's being forced to read lines or something."  
"And look at his eyes." Aang noticed. "They look all glazed."

"I think I know what this is." Hierro said. "And I know just how to fix it." The spider waked over to the Earth King, who had remained free. Too absorbed in his problems to move, the King stood there and watched as the spider advanced. Once he was close enough, Hierro brought up his hand, and with a little concentration, caused four metal orbs to descend downwards from his fingers on silver chains.

"Watch, your Highness." The spider said, as he grabbed the forefinger ball and sent it crashing against the others. The motion traveled through the first two balls onto the last, which swung back and repeated the process. The Earth King watched the movement intently, his eyes moving back and forth as the balls moved.

"Watch the orbs. Watch as they move. Focus only on them." Hierro whispered.

"My King, don't listen!" Long Feng yelled. "They are trying to…" But Long Feng got no further, as he suddenly found whips of water and flame pointed towards.

"I really think you should shut up now." Katara said.

"Indeed. I don't care for the Earth King, but I care less for those that leave me to die." Azula echoed.

Long Feng quickly went silent, as the Earth King continued to watch the orbs. Finally, Hierro asked, "What happened at Lake Laogai?"

"Long Feng…. Instructed me….. on how to run Ba Sing Se.' The King replied dreamily.

"And what were his instructions?"

"To forget the war. To forget the problems it caused, and let him run those important political matters for me."

"Did he know?" the spider said. "Your Highness, when I snap my fingers, you will wake up, and remember everything that has happened since." Hierro did just that, and with a start, the Earth King's eyes became clear. He shook his head for a moment, then looked at the room as if seeing for the first time. "I-I remember now.." he said quietly, then turned around and looked at Long Feng with rage in his eyes.

"You….you dared to steal my kingdom from me!" he yelled at the minister. "You took my throne and made me into an empty figurehead!"

"I've only ever thought of the safety of Ba Sing Se, Your Highness." Long Feng begged.

"Your magic would've had me crawling on all fours like a beast!" The Earth King yelled. "You are hereby stripped of your rank and title! You will spend the rest of your life in the prisons of Ba Sing Se!"

"Actually, you might want to do something about the Dai Li too." Sokka suggested. "They've been a big help to Long Feng here."

"Then the Dai Li is hereby disbanded!" The Earth King cried out. He stood there a moment later then asked, "Wait, how many people in this palace are still loyal to me?"

"Your generals still are." Sokka answered. "But we're not sure where they are now."

"Allow me sir." Tierra said, as he stretched out his hands. Suddenly, the earth surrounding the Dai Li and Long Feng grew over them, and then sank into the ground.

"They'll be in your dungeons in a few minutes. Of course, they'll still be encased, and their powers won't work, just in case there's some damage there too."

"Thank you, Groundquake." The Earth King said. "Now, can someone tell me what's been going on? Are we still at war? Are these Firebenders on our side?"

"Oh, we are not your allies, sir." Azula said, as she stepped forward. "My Father is still pressing hard to eliminate your city and take your kingdom. So am I."

"We've got a problem now, don't we?" Aang whispered to Agua.

"Oh yeah." The cat whispered back, as he gripped his trident. This had been the danger of the bargain that they made. That once Azula was inside Ba Sing Se, she would make the attempt to do what her ancestors had been trying to for a century; bring down Ba Sing Se. The others noticed this as well, and began to ready themselves for a fight. Despite the fact that the rest of Azula's group was not moving to support her, they were prepared to attack them as well.

But that need faded a second later when Azula said, "But today, I will leave it to you."

"Wha..?" Agua said, as he lowered his trident.

"Did you get hit on the head with some debris before?" Sokka asked.

"Would you rather I stay and fight?" Azula asked. "That creature was a threat to the world and everyone in it. I had no choice, but to help you. But I still owe you for saving Ty Lee's life, and I will not hold a debt any longer then I have to. So I leave Ba Sing Se to you, so long as you transport me and my entourage back to our camp."

The group and the Earth King looked at each other in silent confusion. But finally, Trueno stepped forward and said, "All right Princess. If that's all you want, then I'll send you back. Just tell me where."

Azula walked forward, and whispered the location into the ram's ear. Nodding, he told her to stand back, and as she moved, he said, "Sad, really. You're a huge benefit to whichever side you fight for."

"I know." Azula said, as her group moved to stand next to her. "Too bad it isn't for your side."

"Maybe not for long." Trueno said, as he started to move his hands around. "Maybe you're leaving because you actually respect us now. Maybe it's because you've seen that your father's army is not the greatest power in the world. And maybe it's because if he was wrong about that, then maybe the other things he told you are wrong. And if they are, Princess, then maybe your life hasn't been the great and noble effort you think it is."

Azula snorted at the ram's words, but as his power began to fill the air, she looked over to the side, as if she couldn't face the Knight. There was a crack of thunder and lightning, and suddenly, the group disappeared. Trueno lowered his hands, as the Earth King sighed and fell back into his broken throne.

"I've woken up into a nightmare." He said. "My Kingdom is out of my control, and there is a war going on I know nothing about. My palace is in ruins. What am I supposed to do?"

"First, I think we should work on rebuilding the palace." Aang said. "While we're doing that, we can deal with the rest of Ba Sing Se."

"In the meantime, I think I have a lot of work to do thinking up what to say to Kinjo when he gets back." Zuko said.

"You and me both." Jin said. "But I'm sure we'll get him to listen."

"And you're wrong, Your Highness." Sokka said. "There is one thing that we know about the war that no one else does."

"What's that?" The Earth King asked.

"The time when the Firebenders will be most vulnerable. The Day of Black Sun."

**THE END**

**(If you hate self-promotion, do not go further and read the shameless plug)**

_Coming soon from Sandman Cometh- the story of the final battle- the invasion of the Fire Nation- the coming of power beyond imagination- and a return that will shock all who read of it._

_THE ARMY OF THE AVATAR_

_COMING SOON_


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